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THE 

PUBLIC LIFE 


LORD MACAULAY. 


! 





THE 


PUBLIC LIFE 


LORD MACAULAY. 


BY 


The Rev. FREDERICK ARNOLD, B.A., 

CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD. 



LONDON : 

TINSLEY BROTHERS, 18, CATHERINE ST., STRAND. 

1862. 


[The right of Translation is reserved .] 





LONDON: 


BRADBL'KY AND LVANri, PK1NTERS, VVIUTKIU'AR 


PREFACE. 


•- 4 - 

The history of the present publication is briefly told. 
It so happened that the author as a contributor to some 
literary periodicals wrote several articles respecting the 
life and writings of Lord Macaulay. In doing this, it 
occurred to him that an account of Lord Macaulay’s 
public life, based upon contemporary documents, and 
chiefly his own written and spoken opinions, might be 
attempted on a somewhat larger scale than had as yet been 
done. Such a work might possess some historical value, 
for the period of Lord Macaulay’s active political life, 
familiar enough to contemporaries, is to the generation 
born since the Reform Bill perhaps less comprehended 
than any similar period of English history. It is un¬ 
familiar in experience, and neglected by the professed 
student of history. The author accordingly made various 
notes on Lord Macaulay’s public life, which he has now 
brought together, in the hope that they will be accepted 
as a contribution to the subject. The history and litera¬ 
ture of Lord Macaulay’s time are to him subjects as 
purely literary and historical as the times of Johnson or 



VI 


PREFACE. 


Addison. The author has certainly written under a 
strong feeling of admiration and gratitude towards Lord 
Macaulay, hut he has endeavoured above all things to be 
accurate and impartial, and to guard himself against an 
exaggerated estimate. 

In reference to the citations in this work, I should 
mention that, with very few exceptions, they have been 
taken from writings unknown or practically inaccessible 
to the general reader. I have not thought it necessary 
to quote those works which may easily he in any one’s 
hands. I please myself with the idea that I have rescued 
from possible oblivion some important fragments, inte¬ 
resting both for their intrinsic merit and their biogra¬ 
phical value. 

The book has been written from quite an independent 
point of view. It does not possess any peculiar value as 
being published under the sanction of Lord Macaulay’s 
representatives, or aided by family materials. I have not 
thought it right to avail myself of any anecdotes or gossip. 
These—whatever their value may happen to be-—I con¬ 
ceived would better find their place in professed Memoirs 
or Biography. I trust such a work will one day be pub¬ 
lished, and I shall be well content that my own should 
be forgotten in its superior interest. Happily in England 
a man’s public character is not altogether separable from 
his private character, but the little I have said on this 
head is based on information that has been before all the 
world. I conceive that the same right which Lord 
Macaulay possessed of examining the career of public 


PREFACE. 


men, might be exercised by myself in following, with 
uneven tread, bis own. Nevertheless, I should have 
thought it proper to have sacrificed such trouble as I had 
taken, if it had been intimated to me that my book would 
be against the wishes of those who had a right to express 
a wish on the subject. But being obligingly informed 
by their nearest representatives, that there was neither 
the claim nor the wish to interfere, I completed my plan, 
in which my desire has been that I might not treat un¬ 
worthily so worthy a theme. 

I have to thank my friend Mr. A. EL Grant, M.A., for 
assisting to bring out this hook during my own absence 
from England. I may add, that when it was on the eve 
of completion, I w r as admitted to a sacred order, w T bich 
will require, so far as may he, exclusive attention to 
its peculiar studies. My first work, therefore, on a 
purely literary and political subject, will be the last. 

Lugano, 


June , 1862. 





CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Birtli and parentage—Rothley Temple—Tlie ancient chamber— 
Stanzas of a poem—Johnson's visit to Mr. Macaulay—The church¬ 
yard of Cardross—Aulay and Jean Macaulay—Two letters of the Rev. 

A. Macaulay—The Sierra Leone Company—Zachary Macaulay— 
Attack and capture of Sierra Leone by the French—Hannah More 
—Miss Selina Mills—Mr. AVilberforce—Macaulay’s early education 
—The Rev. M. M. Preston—Portion of a letter from young Macaulay 
—His schooldays . -.1 


CHAPTER II. 

Macaulay at Cambridge—His character and habits—His first ap¬ 
pearance in public—He is admitted a scholar on the Foundation — 
Death of Dr. Mansell—Christopher AVordsworth—The Craven 
Scholarship—An extract—He joins the Union of Cambridge— 
Macaulay devotes himself to the study of oratory—Lord Brougham 
writes to Zachaiy on the subject—Young Macaulay adopts his 
Lordship’s suggestions—Specimens of Macaulay’s Union speeches—■ 

“ Oliver Cromwell ”—“ Lord Strafford ”—Takes his degree as B. A. 

—Loses the chance of being Chancellor Medalist—Mr. Greaves’ prize 
—Macaulay writes the Essay and obtains it—He contributes to 
Knight's Quarterly Magazine —Lines—An autobiographical passage 
on AVest-Indian Slavery—Mr. Moultrie’s portrait of Macaulay in 
verse — A companion portrait by Mr. Praed — Macaulay’s first 
appearance in London—Reports of his speech in Freemason’s Hall 
—Theodore Hook’s attack on Zachary Macaulay—The young orator 
elected Fellow of Trinity.. .20 



X 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER III. 

PAGE 

What is a Fellowship at Trinity?—Euripides in error—What Menander 
might have written—His choice of a pursuit—Macaulay called to 
the Bar—His only achievement—He becomes commissioner in 
bankruptcy—The Edinburgh Review and the Quarterly — Macaulay 
joins the Edinburgh Review —The article on Milton—Mr. Murray’s 
estimation of Macaulay’s literary worth—The paper on Machiavelli 
—Sydney Smith appointed to a canonry in Bristol Cathedral— 
“The present Administration”—The Earl of Liverpool—Mr. 
Canning First Lord of the Treasury—Lord Eldon ceased to be 
Chancellor — Lord Lyndhurst replaces him — Lord Palmerston 
remains in office—Scarlett Attorney-General—The Marquis of 
Lansdown becomes Secretary of State for the Home Department— 
Extracts from Macaulay’s papers in support of the New Ministry— 
Macaulay on “ Pitt ”—“ Effects of French Revolution ”— “ Spirit 
of Party”—Prorogation of Parliament—Article on Dryden—“ Old 
Ebony” on “Young Macaulay”—Review on Robert Montgomery— 
Oxford, or Alma Mater ...42 


CHAPTER IT. 

The member for Caine—Macaulay succeeds Mr. Abercrombie—Sir 
James Mackintosh on Macaulay’s maiden speech—Debate on Forgery 
—Death of George IT.—The King does not dine—Earl Grey 
Premier—Mr. Brougham Lord Chancellor—Close of first year in 
Parliament—Sir Robert Teel on Reform—“ Reform sights and 
sounds”—Bishops throw out the Bill—Speech of Sir Robert Peel- 
Tickler on “ Tom Macaulay”—American sketch of Macaulay—Inter¬ 
regnum—Passing the Reform Bill ...... 63 


CHAPTER V, 

The election for Leeds—A year and a half of civic strife—The repre¬ 
sentation of the people—New borough of Leeds—Mr. John Marshall 
What Mr. Macaulay’s friends did—Mr. Michael Thomas Sadler— 
Hie hope of the Tories Hie Duke of Newcastle’s unconstitutional 
proceedings—Contest between Macaulay and Marshall—Anthology 


CONTENTS. 


XI 


PAGE 

of the election—Polite language of each party—The battle between 
the Orange and the Blue—Incident at Bramley—Macaulay’s conduct 
during the contest—Letter, October 5th, 1831—Visit and speech at 
Leeds—Another speech at Leeds—Incident of the speech—Burdens 
and enterprise—Interesting extract—Letters, Aug. 3rd, 1832— 
Question of Church and State —Macaulay’s views on—The corn 
laws, church rates—The ballot, &c.—Opinions v. pledges, liberty, 
and responsibility—Letter, Aug. 10th, 1832—Another speech at 
Leeds—Religious liberty — Children in factories—Value of the 
Reform Bill—Place and popular representation—Equal to either 
fate—Opinions on church property—The revenues of bishops, deans, 
and others—Church property in Ireland—Tax on knowledge—A 
meeting in the Free Market at Leeds—Macaulay’s speech—Sins of 
the Tories—Difference between Lord Lowther, Mr. Banks, and 
Macaulay—Paper and gold—Colonial slavery—Intelligence and 
loveliness of Leeds—Factory Bill—Board of Control—Salary of 
secretary—Reading the Bribery Act—Amenities of the scene— 
Macaulay’s address—Numbers at conclusion of the poll—Brief 
address to the electors of the borough of Leeds . . . .89 


CHAPTER VI. 

The reformed Parliament—Its popularity is on the wane—The “Leeds 
Intelligencer ” — A gross calumny — Macaulay’s letter on the 
subject—Mr. Buxton’s letter—Sir Charles Sutton re-elected as 
Speaker—The House of Commons—The first instance of dissension— 
Debate on the Address—The state of affairs in Ireland—Mr. Cobbett 
—Mr. Stanley—Mr. E. L. Bulwer—Coercion and severity discussed— 
The member for Dublin—Macaulay’s speech-—Cobbett’s reply—The 
“ Rupert of debate ’’—Lord Derby’s speech—Reduction of the Irish 
church establishment—Ten bishoprics abolished—A fund of three 
millions at the service of the State—Conservatives and Radicals 
dissatisfied—Restrictions on trade with the East—Travels of Bishop 
Heber—One of Mr. Huskisson’s last public acts—The dissolution of 
Parliament—Select Committee—Six sub-committees—The East India 
Company—The Court of Directors, and Court of Proprietors—A 
General Court—Macaulay’s speech on the second reading of the Bill- 
Settlement of West Indian slavery question—Evening of 14th May, 
and Thomas Fowell Buxton—Conditions of the Abolition of Slavery 


XU 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

—Macaulay’s speech—Supports of Mr. Buxton’s Amendment—State 
of Jamaica—The colonies refuse to abide by Canning’s suggestions for 
the amelioration of the negroes—The last day of slavery—The first 
dawn of freedom—Mr. Wilberforce—Miss Buxton to Zachary 
Macaulay—One other measure of this Parliament—Macaulay’s visit 
to Leeds—Speech at a meeting of the Mechanics’ Institution—A 
public dinner—The speech—Account of last session—Questions by 
Mr. Bower, and Macaulay’s answers-—Defence of compensation— 

The provisions of the East India Act—“ To the Electors of Leeds” 

—Farewell address of Macaulay on accepting the office of Law 
Member of Council—Blue opinions at Leeds—Dismemberment of 
the Grey Ministry—The case of Mr. Slieil—Macaulay declines to 
disclose a private conversation—Court of Directors at the East India 
House—Mr. Macaulay sworn in . . . . . .145 


CHAPTER VII. 

The “John Bull” on Macaulay’s appointment as Fourth Ordinary- 
Member of the Council of India—Arrives at Madras—Macaulay’s 
minutes of his first impressions in India—Conversational indis¬ 
cretion— Law commissions — Mr. Cameron—Mr. MacNaghten— 
Macaulay lands at Calcutta—A “ Bengal Civilian’s” letters— 
Literature in India—Dinner given by Sir Charles Metcalf—Toast, 
by Sir John Grant—Macaulay’s reply, and first speech in India— 
St. Andrew’s day, Macaulay presides at the Town Hall—Explains 
how far he is a Scotchman'—On the “Civil Service of India”— 
General Macaulay at Travancore—Providence and the “Quarter¬ 
lies”—First Indian coinage—The Law Commission—“The Friend 
of India”—Acts of the Commission—The so-called Black Act— 
Petition presented to the Governor-General of India—Captain 
Rider, and the anniversary of the battle'of Waterloo—Political 
phraseology in India—Macaulay’s social life, according to the Press 
—The Penal Code—A letter to Lord Auckland—The Body of the 
Code in Twenty-six Chapters—Notes—Quotations—Use of illustra¬ 
tions—Non-exemptions of Sovereign Houses—Abstract of the Code 
— Cases about books—On capital punishment—On the punishment 
of the pillory—On the question of receiving presents—Further 
cases—On the formation of the code—Mr. Macaulay’s return to 
England—Indifference of the people—“Black Act” before the 


CONTENTS. 


• • • 


Xlll 

PAGE 

House of Commons— Quotation, from the “Friend of India”— 
Judicial corruption — Macaulay’s minutes on the subject—He 
denounces the Supreme Court—Proper jealousy—Denounces the 
outcry of Calcutta.184 


CHAPTER VIII. 

Death of Zachary Macaulay—Obloquy cast on him by MacQueen and 
others—Evidence of Henry Drummond—Mr. Gladstone’s evidence 
in his praise—Sir Janies Stephen’s articles on the Edinburgh Review 
—Arrival of Macaulay in England—Travels in Italy—Lays of An¬ 
cient Rome—Letter to Mr. Black—Tells the story of his connection 
with Edinburgh—The Times attacks on Mr. Macaulay—Eloquent 
words—The conclusion of one of his addresses to the electors of 
Edinburgh—Aspect of political parties when Mr. Macaulay re-entered 
Parliament—The Queen and her ladies—Lady Flora Hastings— 
Lord Melbourne's heartless letters to her mother—Mr. Macaulay is 
induced to speak—Parliament breaks up—Macaulay appointed 
Secretary at War—Sworn of the Privy Council—Mr. Sliiel again— 
Spiteful mentions in the Times of his being appointed Privy Coun¬ 
cillor—Macaulay’s mistake—Letter dated from Windsor Castle— 

The Session of 1840—The royal marriage—Queen’s speech—Mr. 
Macaulay re-elected as member of the Cabinet—Mr. Disraeli— 
Making a suitable provision for Prince Albert—Debate and bon- 
mots about the sum—Macaulay on want of confidence—Attack of 
Lord Powerscourt— Reply of Sir Robert Peel—Sir James Graham on 
China—Macaulay’s reply—Triumph of the Ministry—Lord Cardi¬ 
gan’s half-pay—Graceful allusions to old friends in the course of the 
Copyright debate—Anecdotal remarks in the Irish Registration 
debate—Death of Henry Richard Vassall, Lord Holland—Macau¬ 
lay’s description of Holland House—Justice Talfourd’s description 
of evenings at Holland House, and of Macaulay himself—Re-assem¬ 
bly of Parliament in 1841—0‘Connell and the Irish Registration 
Bill—The Corn Law agitation—Ministerial defeat and tactics— 
Government defeated by a majority of One —Macaulay presents 
himself at Edinburgh for re-election—Remarks on the occasion— 

The Speaker re-elected—The Whigs out at last—The ladies of the 
household resign—Mr. Macaulay no longer Cabinet minister . .241 


XIV 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER IX. 


rAGE 

Her Majesty’s opposition—Macaulay turns liis leisure to profitable 
account—Writes bis “Lays of Ancient Rome”—State of tlie world at 
this time—Macaulay speaks at some length on the Com Laws — 
Peroration of his speech. Extracted from Lord Palmerston—Mr. 
Duncombe’s motion—The Copyright Bill passed—Lord Ellenbo- 
rougli’s proclamation—Macaulay’s comments on it—Recall of Lord 
Ellenborough—The treaty of Washington severely criticised by 
Macaulay—Lord Ashburton despatched on a mission of peace— 
Debate on the state of Ireland—Macaulay’s speech—Conclusion of 
his speech on the Unitarian Chapels Bill—Another specimen of his 
rhetoric—Anecdote of a case of conscience—The Maynooth ques¬ 
tion—Acute remarks of Macaulay about Sir Robert Peel—The 
Times —Philippic against Sir Robert Peel—His speech on the Irish 
church—Mr. Macaulay takes office as Paymaster-General . .275 


CHAPTER X. 

Contested election at Edinburgh—Opinions of the Free Church and 
Dissenting Party—Inconsistency of the electors — Macaulay’s 
speeches—Defence of the Maynooth and other votes—Nomination 
day—Complimentary speech of the Lord Provost—Macaulay at the 
hustings—Repentance of the electors—Letter from the Scottish 
Reformation Society—Answer to the same—Again elected for 
Edinburgh—State of the poll—Disappointment at non-appearance 
—Rumour of his death—Rejoicing at his return—Letter of thanks 
to his constituents—Large meeting—Last speech at Edinburgh— 

Fate of Lord Hotham’s Bill—Description of the scene in the House 
—Speech on the Hindoos—Farewell letter to his constituents— 
Tennyson’s lines on Arthur Hallam applied to Macaulay—Appointed 
High Steward of Cambridge—Speech of the Mayor—Reply . . 296 


CONTENTS. 


XV 


l’AGE 

CHAPTER XI. 

Accepts a seat in the House of Peers—Retrospective—Brief remarks 
on liis career—As a politician—On his consistency—As an orator—• 

As a statesman—As an author—The History of England—Remark¬ 
able memory — The History too great an undertaking—Critical 
remarks upon it—Denunciation of the House of Commons—Death 
at Holly Lodge—Shortcomings as a Church Historian — Public 
feeling at his death—Noble instances of his generosity—Funeral in 
Westminster Abbey—Result of his career—Conclusion . . .341 
















THE PUBLIC LIFE 


OK 

LORD MACAULAY. 


CHAPTER I. 

LINEAGE AND YOUTH. 

Thomas Babington, the son of Zachary and Selina 
Macaulay, was bom at Bothley Temple, October 25th, 
1800. From Bothley Temple he afterwards took his title 
on his accession to the peerage of England. London 
always excepted, it was the part of the country most 
familiar to him. His aunt, Mrs. Babington, resided at 
Bothley at the Mansion. He had an uncle and various 
cousins residing at the Vicarage. Bothley Temple was 
the spot connected with the prosperous turn of the for¬ 
tunes of the family, and caused a Scottish line to take 
root and flourish in England. 

The village is rather prettily situated about four miles 
from Leicester on the Loughborough road. It lies on the 
borders of the ancient district of Charnwood Forest, the 
scenery of which in parts is still wild and beautiful. 
Bothley, with the various land and chapelries included in 




2 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


the Soke of Rothley, was formerly a part of the enormous 
landed estates possessed in England by the Masters and 
Brethren of the Military Order of the Temple. John de 
Harcourt, a Crusader, who died in the Holy Land, made 
the gift to the Templars. When this order was suppressed 
in the time of Edward II., the lands were transferred to 
their rivals, the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The 
grey old church of Ptothley, with its fine old tower, 
coped graves, and cross of Early Norman workmanship, 
recall the ancient time. In 1505 Sir John Babington, 
a Knight of Rhodes, succeeded as Commander to the 
Commandery of Dalby and Rothley. When the estates 
attached to religious mansions were secularised in 1540, 
the Manor of Rothley was granted to Edward Cartw r right, 
who conveyed them to Humphrey Babington, brother of 
Sir John. In NicholPs magnificent county history of 
Leicestershire, we have the regular pedigree of the Bab¬ 
ington family, from a roll drawn by the College of 
Arms (with additions from public records, heralds* visita¬ 
tions, and private documents), beginning with John de 
Babington, Lord of Babington the over and Babington 
the nether, in the county of Northumberland, in the 
thirteenth century. The illustrious soldiers of the family 
had done good service in the French w T ars of Edward III. 
and Henry V., and had already gained an historic name 
when they came into the possession of Rothlej^. Singularly 
enough, on the family roll are found the names both of 
Zachary and of Macaulay, although there cannot have 
been the slightest connection in those days between the 
English family and the Scottish family. Quite lately the 
estate passed into the hands of Vice-Chancellor Parker, a 
close family connection of the Babingtons, 

The house itself w as long and low, with a frontage of 


ROTHLEY TEMPLE. 


3 


twenty-eiglit windows, exclusive of those belonging to a 
fine old chapel attached to the house. It was one of the 
few residences in the kingdom that belonged to the Knights 
Templars. It is reputed to be in the parish of Jerusalem, 
as King's College, Cambridge is in Lincolnshire, and as 
the houses of the bishops were once reputed to belong to 
their respective dioceses. Within the mansion were pre¬ 
served some old helmets and an ancient constable's staff, 
and a rapier used at Rotliley Temple in 1588, when its 
owner was summoned to bear arms on account of the 
Spanish Armada. On a large bow window the inter¬ 
marriages of the family are beautifully recorded on stained 
glass. Among the memorabilia of the village it is re¬ 
corded that a Roman pavement was found there ; and Mr. 
Babington, writing in 1788 to the benevolent Sir Joseph 
Banks, speaks of a labourer finding in a field among 
other articles a cross plated with silver. 

Macaulay himself has an allusion to the “ ancient 
chamber " of the “ old mansion." On the evening of the 
day of disappointment and defeat at Edinburgh, the 
thoughts of the wearied statesman, tired with the tumult 
and the strife, wandered back to days of childhood and the 
long unvisited mansion of his birth. lie then wrote a 
truly noble and affecting poem, some of the stanzas of 
which Dean Milman justly considers among the finest in 
the language. 

He applies to himself the pretty story which he applies 
to Lord Byron, of fays and fairies attending at the birth. 
The moonbeams are falling full on the cradle where, 
robed in white, the infant “ sleeps life's first soft sleep." 
The fairy queens, with noiseless step, rise and vanish 
through the gloom. The Queen of Gain swept careless 
by; the Queen of Fashion had only cold disdain; the 


4 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 


Queen of Pleasure scarce vouchsafed a rose leaf; “ the 
Queen of Power tossed high her jewelled head.” At last 
there came one mightier and better than all:— 

“ Oh, glorious lady, with the eyes of light, 

And laurels clustering round thy lofty brow, 

Who by the cradle’s side didst watch that night, 

Warbling a sweet strange music, who wast thou ? 

“ ‘Yes, darling; let them go;’ so ran the strain : 

‘ Yes ; let them go, gain, fashion, pleasure, power, 

And all the busy elves to whose domain 

Belongs the nether sphere, the fleeting hour. 

“ ‘Without one envious sigh, one anxious scheme, 

The nether sphere, the fleeting hour resign. 

Mine is the world of thought, the world of dream, 

Mine all the past, and all the future mine. 

‘ ‘ ‘ Fortune, that lays in sport the mighty low, 

Age, that to penance turns the joys of youth, 

Shall leave untouched the gifts which I bestow, 

The sense of beauty and the thirst of truth. 

“ ‘Of the fair brotherhood who share my grace, 

I, from thy natal day pronounce thee free ; 

And, if for some I keep a nobler place, 

I keep for none a happier than for thee. 

**■***■■* 


The second name of Babington was, I think, very appro¬ 
priately bestowed upon him. Juliet, with feminine logic, 
argues that there is nothing in a name; but a mere name 
has often been fraught with momentous consequences to 
the possessor. Somehow we frequently associate some 
notion of character with a name, an idea as old as 
YEschylus. 

“ Who gave her a name 
So true to her fame ; 

Hoes a Providence rule in the choice of a word ?”* 

* cs rb irav eTTjTi'gwy. 


THE SCOTTISH MACAULAYS. 


o 

For my own part I am pleased that Macaulay bore a 
historic name, one that has knightly associations which 
vividly recall his own noble spirit, his impetuous ardour, 
his chivalry and generosity. 

Macaulay's connection with Ttotliley, then, was simply 
local and accidental. He could not boast, and in any case 
he would not have boasted, of the pride of Norman blood. 
Rothley was not the home of his family. The Babingtons 
were not blood relations. To set forth his proper ancestry 
we must shift the scene to Scottish ground. We are told 
that this was a topic on which Macaulay did not care to 
dilate, and from which he would divert conversation. It 
certainly must be admitted that in his writings he shows 
little sympathy with Scotland, and sometimes awards her 
only a rough kind of justice. 

My readers are probably familiar with the scenery of 
the Clyde, or at least with Sir Walter Scott’s eloquent 
descriptions of it. Just past Dumbarton, where the 
castled cliff overhangs the Clyde very much as Ehren- 
breitstein does the Rhine—and those who are familiar 
with both scarcely fail to associate them together—the 
broad river broadens still further to a noble estuary or 
arm of the sea. Here is Cardross, respecting which we 
will presently speak a few words. Turning in the mean¬ 
time to Johnson's Tour to the Hebrides , with which we 
should always compare the letters to Mrs. Thrale, and 
Boswell's account of the journey, which is substantially an 
integral part of his great biography, we find one or two 
important literary notices relating to the Macaulays. Dr. 
Johnson came across both the grandfather and grand¬ 
uncle of Macaulay, the latter of whom, Kenneth Macaulay, 
wrote, or was supposed to have written, the History of St. 
Kilda. For a son of this Kenneth, Johnson obtained a 


6 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOKD MACAULAY. 


servitorship at Oxford. The two notices do not amount 
to much. Johnson dined and passed the night at Mr. 
Macaulay's, and did not refuse to listen to a Presbyterian 
prayer, although he would not commit the sin of entering 
a Presbyterian Church. In the other, Mr. John Macaulay 
passes the evening with Johnson and Boswell at their inn 
at Inverary. As we might have expected, the doctor gets 
very warm in an argument, and tells his guest that he 
must be grossly ignorant of human nature. However, 
next morning “Mr. Macaulay breakfasted with us, no¬ 
thing hurt or dismayed at his last night's correction." 
The original meaning of the name Macaulay is Mac 
Aulaidh, the son of Olaf or Olave. A slight attempt has 
been made to connect the Macaulays with the Dumbarton¬ 
shire house of Ardincaple, but in all likelihood they were 
of humbler origin. The father of John and Kenneth was 
Aulay Macaulay, the minister of Harris, one of the parishes 

of the Western Isles. This John Macaulay married the 

$ 

daughter of Colin Campbell of Inversegar, Argylesliire. 

In the churchyard of Cardross there is a plain freestone 
slab, raised above two feet from the ground, covered with 
moss, erected to the memory of the Bev. John Macaulay. 
It is still possible to decipher the inscription. It men¬ 
tions, with an accuracy and particularity of kin desiderated 
in monumental inscriptions, the salient points of his 
useful and humble career. He was ordained in 1745, 
and respectively served as minister at South Uist, Lisburn, 
Inverary, and Cardross. The monument was erected as 
a tribute of filial regard, gratitude, and love. He left 
twelve children, of whom many were sons. It is recorded 
that John, the youngest, died in his infancy, suggesting 
that the others grew up. 

Of these children we shall mention only five. One was 


IiEY. AULAY MACAULAY. 


7 


a soldier, and rose to the rank of general in the East 
Indian Army. Another was Jean Macaulay, who married 
Mr. Babington, of Rothley. Another was Aulay Macaulay, 
vicar of Botliley. Another was Zachary Macaulay, the 
father of the historian. Another was Kenneth Macaulay, 
for twenty years in the India Civil Service. We shall 
first speak of the brother and sister settled at Rothley, 
Aulay and Jean Macaulay. 

Aulay Macaulay was a man of some mark in his day; 
he possessed a reputation that would have been wider had 
his opportunities been wider also. He took the degree of 
M.A. at the University of Glasgow before he was twenty. 
At that early age he contributed to a weekly local maga¬ 
zine, under the signature of Academicus. He then took 
a tutorship in an English family near Bedford, where he 
remained three years. At that time he obtained a title 
to Orders, and not belonging to a University recognised 
by the English bishops, must have been ordained as a 
literate person. Subsequently, however, he put down his 
name at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, as a Ten 
Years* Man, which would have entitled him in due course 
to the degree of B.D., if he had wished to take it. His 
first curacy was at Claybrook, and he wrote a volume on 
its History and Antiquities, besides contributing an 
account of it to Nicholl’s Leicestershire. In the autumn 
of 1793 he made a tour in South Holland and the Nether¬ 
lands, and gave an interesting and curious account of it in 
vol. 75 of The Gentleman’s Magazine. Next year he again 
went abroad as travelling tutor to a son of Sir Walter 
Farquhar, and at the court of the Duke of Brunswick he 
became acquainted with the late Duke, and was a frequent 
gue3t at his table. He acted as tutor to the Princess 
Caroline of Denmark, the unhappy Queen of England. 


8 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


Both the old Duchess of Brunswick, on her return to 
England, her native country, and the Princess, after her 
marriage, distinguished him “by repeated proofs of grate¬ 
ful recollection.” In 1796 he was presented by his brother- 
in-law, Mr. Babington, with the living of Bothley, now 
valued in the Clergy List at 466/. a-year. In this quiet 
retirement he continued for many years as a useful parish 
clergyman, and cultivated literary ease. It is said of him 
that few ever possessed greater abilities for writing, or 
greater stores of classical and historical learning. He 
also had the reputation of being a worthy and benevolent 
clergyman. In his youth he published essays on various 
subjects of taste and criticism; and also a translation with 
notes and illustrations of a Latin treatise by a Leyden 
Professor. Besides several sermons published, and an 
Editio Expurgata of Pope, meditated, he engaged in a 
magnum opus, the Life of Melanchthon, on which he was 
more or less occupied for thirty years. Whether, how¬ 
ever, from fastidious dissatisfaction, the paucity or difficulty 
of procuring materials, or indolence or procrastination, the 
works never saw the light. This is the more to be re¬ 
gretted, as the beautiful life of the most tolerant and 
catholic-minded of all the great Reformers would be a real 
boon to our literature. In 1815 his quiet uniform life 
was interrupted by a second continental tour, of which he 
sent an account, never completed, to Sylvanus Urban. 
He died from apoplexy on the 29th of February, 1819, 
leaving a numerous family, of which one, Mr. Macaulay, 
of the Midland Circuit, and M.P., has attained to some 
eminence. The Gentleman’s Magazine for that year pre¬ 
serves a letter, and an extract from a letter, which are 
very interesting. (Yol. 89, Part I. 287.) 


REV. AULAY MACAULAY. 


9 


“Claybrook, July ]8th, 1796. 

“My dear Friend, —I am sure you will be glad to hear 
that fortune begins to smile upon me. Respexit tamen, 
et longo post tempore venit. Mr. Babington has offered 
me a presentation to the living of Rothley, vacant by his 
brother’s death, to which I shall probably be instituted in 
the course of a few weeks. I think of commencing 
residence at Rothley about Michaelmas; and I hope that 
I shall not be long there before I have the satisfaction of 
seeing you under my roof. I shall be sorry to part with 
my honest friends at Claybrook; and am very anxious 
about the succession to the curacy. The Bishop has the 
nomination; but he will probably listen to my recom¬ 
mendation. 

“ A . Macaulay.” 

“Rothley Vicarage, February 20 th, 1798. 

I am now as comfortably situated as a country parson 
can reasonably desire; and no ambitious dreams disturb 
my repose, notwithstanding the following passage from a 
letter to a friend in high life: 1 1 have no doubt of your 
eventual promotion in the Church, for Your Princess 
does not forget her friends/ ” 

Nine years before Aulay Macaulay came to Rothley, his 
sister Jean married Mr. Babington, his future patron. 
An able writer in Fraser’s Magazine (T. E. K.) states that 
wdien a young gentleman, Mr. Babington, being crossed 
in love, took to travelling, and in the course of his 
wanderings found consolation in a Scotch manse. Mr. 
Thomas Babington married Miss Jean Macaulay in 1787, 
in his thirtieth year. We are not acquainted with the 
age of the bride. He became an active country gentle- 


10 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 


man, a worthy M.P., and with great strictness and regu¬ 
larity supported the Society for the Suppression of Vice. 

Zachary was a younger brother of Anlay Macaulay. 
He was born in the year 1708. When quite a boy of 
nineteen and thrown on the world, he was sent out as 
overseer to an estate in the Island of Jamaica. At the 
age of twenty-five we find him at Sierra Leone and in 
correspondence with William Wilberforce (1793). In the 
year 1786 we find Granville Sharp publishing a Short Sketch 
of Temporary Regulations [until better shall be proposed) 
for the Intended Settlement on the Grain Coast of Africa, 
near Sierra Leone. The next year a number of gentlemen 
subscribed several thousand pounds to send a number of 
destitute blacks, then in London, to Sierra Leone. Land 
was purchased from a native chief, and the English 
Government was at the expense of transporting the 
blacks, and supplying them with necessaries for the first 
six or eight months. A Sierra Leone Company was 
incorporated by Act of Parliament, and raised a capital 
of 235,280/. They admitted into the colony free negroes 
from Nova Scotia, to whom the government gave a free 
passage. In 1792 these vessels left England, containing 
100 white persons, supported by the company. A regular 
colony was now formed, with a regular governor appointed 
by the company according to their powers. Mr. Zachary 
Macaulay must have been there almost at the very outset 
of the undertaking, in the capacity of Member of Council, 
owing to the recommendation of his brother-in-law Mr. 
Eabington. The company seems to have been founded on 
the model of the East India Company, parvis componere 
magna. They were a pliilanthropical rather than a trading 
corporation, and had only about 27,000/. invested in trade. 
Mr. Dawes was the first governor. In 1791 a great 


MR. ZACHARY MACAULAY. 


11 


misfortune befel the company. A French squadron 
appeared off the coast, and captured the little town. 
The French behaved with great barbarity, robbed the 
ships, set fire to the place, and indulged in every species 
of licence. Unfortunately the company’s largest vessel 
with a valuable cargo, arrived about this time, and was 
captured by the French, who also took several small 
trading vessels belonging to the infant settlement. We 
find Mr. Zachary Macaulay in the position of acting 
governor. Then it is mentioned in the report of the 
company that Mr. Dawes, who had resigned, was again 
going out as governor, and that Mr. Z. Macaulay was 
suffering from indisposition. We may here say that the 
company was dissolved in January, 1808, and the colony 
transferred to the Crown. 

Mr. Zachary Macaulay returned to England for a short 
time. In January, 1796, we find Hannah More writing 
to him from Bath, and expecting that her letter would find 
him at Fulham. No mention occurs in this letter of a 
younger lady, who is regularly mentioned in other letters, 
Miss Selina Mills, of Bristol. Next month we find that 
Mr. Zachary Macaulay is at Bristol, meditating a return 
to the colony, and seemingly on good terms with Miss 
Mills. The young lady had been a pupil of Hannah 
More’s, when she with her sister kept a boarding school 
at Bristol,—reputed the best in the West of England. A 
curious circumstance set Hannah More free from her 
scholastic duties. She was engaged to a gentleman ot 
fortune, who, from peculiarities of disposition, while enter¬ 
taining the highest esteem for Hannah More, declined to 
fulfil his engagement. Hannah More was then twenty- 
two, and the gentleman nearly double her age. She 
might, however, like others, appeal for damages to “an 


12 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


intelligent jury of her civilised countrymen.” The circum¬ 
stances were really hard. The day had been fixed, all 
preparations made, and the interest in the school given 
up. Mr. Turner proposed to settle an annuity on her, an 
offer which she rejected. He felt, however, uneasy in 
mind, and could not rest till he could make atonement, 
as he delicately expresses it, “ for the robbery he had 
committed upon her time.” As Miss Selina Mills had 
been her pupil, and after this event Miss More appears to 
have had no pupil, the young lady could not have been very 
young. We find then Miss More writing, “My sister 
Patty went to Bristol two days ago, when I desired she 
would beg Miss Mills to explain to you the cause of my 

seemingly very unkind behaviour. I hope and 

believe you clearly understand that nothing but my firm 
persuasion that you had sailed would have caused me to 
behave with such seeming negligence and ingratitude.” 
The father of Miss Mills was a bookseller, and the family 
w 7 ere Quakers. The same year we find her writing to 
him as if at Sierra Leone, at a date when he was in 
England, (which is perhaps explained by the mistake she 
made,) hoping he will have had no attack from his horrible 
old visitors the French, and that the British squadron was 
a defence. She tells him she has seen his sister, Mrs. 
Babington, at Cowslip Green, and adds, “ Selina, I trust, 
will have told you all that is past.” In September, 1797, 
she again writes, “ I have had the pleasure of receiving 

your kind letter, dated the 1st of June. I have 

not seen Selina lately. Selina, I suppose, told you 

that Mr. Wilberforce brought his bride down here almost 
immediately after their marriage. She is a pretty, pleas¬ 
ing, pious young woman, and I hope she will make him 
happy.” These letters are addressed to Mr. Macaulay, 



MR. ZACHARY MACAULAY. 


13 


as Governor of Sierra Leone. In an earlier letter she 
had written, “ Miss Mills has been busy at work trans¬ 
cribing your Communicant. We much approve what you 
have done. Vr&y don’t forget to bring her previous per¬ 
formance, as I dare say she would be miserable to have it 
lost.” In 1799, Zachary Macaulay finally left Sierra 
Leone, and returned to England. Shortly afterwards his 
marriage took place. He returned home otherwise than 
on the last occasion. He then, although in weak health, 
determined to become personally acquainted with the 
horrors of the Middle Passage, and embarked in April, 
1795, on board a slave-ship, the Anna Philippa, bound for 
Barbadoes; his well known principles made this a matter 
of jeopardy. He was, practically, better acquainted than 
any living man with all the details of the slave trade. When 
an overseer in the West Indies, and subject to hardships 
and privations only inferior to those of the slaves, he 
wrote to a friend, “ It is a situation in which I flatter 
myself I shall be able to alleviate the hardships of a con¬ 
siderable number of my fellow-creatures, and to render 
the bitter cup of servitude as palatable as possible. In 
the year 1800 he was appointed Secretary to the Sierra 
Leone Company, a post which he held till its dissolution. 
The Christian Observer was now established, and after it 
had been published for a few months it passed into the hands 
of Mr. Macaulay, who edited it till 1816. His labours in 
the anti-slavery cause were enormous. Most of the 
abolition pamphlets were from his pen. He would sit up 
in consultation at Mr. Wilberforce’s till daybreak, and 
then retire to put their plans in shape. For many years 
he was the gratuitous and hard-working Secretary of the 
African Institution. On February 4th, 1808, the Court 
of Directors of the Sierra Leone Company unanimously 


14 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOKD MACAULAY. 


resolved that Mr. Macaulay’s superior talents, great 
industry, and intimate knowledge of African affairs, would 
be of great use to His Majesty’s Government, and resolved 
that they would earnestly recommend him to Lord Castle- 
reagh as qualified to fill any situation that might require an 
acquaintance with African subjects. A letter to that 
effect was prepared and signed by the Directors, but 
nothing came of it. In 1812 a very large and important 
meeting resolved “as a permanent though inadequate 
expression of their gratitude,” to give him a piece of plate 
of the value of one hundred guineas. He was regarded 
by one and all as “ the Atlas on whose strength the anti¬ 
slavery world rested.” Unlike his son, he was slow of 
speech, and never did anything as an orator. His great 
forte was business, and to perform this he never allowed 
himself more than six hours’ sleep. He gave his children 
a happy home. One evidently well acquainted with him 
writes, “ His habits were of the most domestic nature; 
fond of children, and pleased with the society of the 
young, he was always cheerful; in his house mirth and 
wisdom went hand in hand, and no one left* the domestic 
circle without being the wiser and better for having 
entered it.” 

It is almost to be regretted that Hannah More’s pupil, 
so unlike Hannah More herself, has left no written 
published remains. To the mothers of our great men a 
strong and peculiar interest attaches. She appears to 
have possessed a fine and richly stored mind. Hannah 
More speaks of “ her mild accommodating temper, her 
sober sense, and piety. Till his thirteenth year, it 
seems, the young Macaulay was educated at home, and 
chiefly by his mother. After his death, some notices 
occurred in one or two weekly and one or two monthly 


EARLY EDUCATION. 


15 


periodicals respecting his boyhood. Now it is not my 
intention to indulge in quotations from these, but I shall 
briefly indicate their drift. His friends thought him, like 
Edwin, “ no vulgar boy/ 5 His hymns were “ wonderful 
for such a baby !” His is a childhood which recalls the 
childhood of Pascal. At eleven years old he is reading 
the Lusiad of Camoens. That wonderful old lady, 
Hannah More, speaks with keen insight of “his great 
superiority of intellect and quickness of passion. He 
ought to have competitors. He is like the prince who 
refused to play with anything but kings.” His father 
thought of putting him to Westminster School, but did 
not, and Westminster School must regret the loss of so 
signal a distinction. We believe he went to Mr. Pritchard’s 
school at Clapham, and was greatly benefited by the 
teaching he had there. In 1813 the young fellow was 
greatly impressed by the expedition to Russia, and 
wrote a poem called Moscow. His father now placed him 
with the Rev. M. M. Preston, the late Vicar of Cheshunt. 
Mr. Preston was for a time at Shelford, within a few 
miles of Cambridge, and afterwards removed to Aspeden 
Hall, Herts. He was a good man, belonging to the 
Evangelical set, and had been eleventh wrangler and 
Fellow of Trinity. Mr. Preston reported that his pupil 
learned rapidly and generally; that his dispositions were 
good, and that his reverence for religion what he could 
wish. A facsimile has been published of a letter of his in 
his fifteenth year,—a broad, boyish hand, full of fluent 
curves. We give a portion. 

“We are eagerly expecting the promised essay, which 
will, indeed, be a most important addition to the literary 
history of the year eighteen hundred and fifteen, ample as 
that already is. Every eminent writer of poetry, good or 


16 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


bad, has been publishing within the last month, or is to 
publish shortly. Lord Byron’s pen is at work over a 
poem as yet nameless. Lucien Bonaparte has given the 
world his Charlemagne. Scott has published his Lord of 
the Isles, in six cantos, a beautiful and elegant poem; 
and Southey his Roderick the last of the Goths. Words¬ 
worth has printed The Excursion , a ponderous quarto of 
five hundred pages, ‘ being a portion of the intended poem 
entitled The Recluse .' What the length of this in¬ 
tended poem is to be, as the Grand Vizier said of the 
Turkish poet, 

‘N’est comm qu’a Dieu et a M. Wordsworth.’ 

This forerunner, however, is, to say no more, almost as 
long as it is dull; not but that there are many striking 
and beautiful passages interspersed; but who would wade 
through a poem 

‘ Where, perhaps, one beauty shines 
In the dry desert of a thousand lines ?’ 


“ To add to the list, my dear Madam, you will soon see 
a work of mine in print. Do not be frightened ! it is onlv 
the index to the thirteenth volume of the Christian Ob¬ 
server , which I have had the honour of composing. Index¬ 
making, though the lowest, is not the most useless round 
in the ladder of literature ; and I pride myself upon being 
able to say that there are many readers of the Christian 
Observer who could do without Walter Scott's works, but 
not without those of, my dear Madam, your affectionate 
friend, 

“ Thomas B. Macaulay." 


MACAULAY AT SCHOOL. 


17 


In Macmillan for February, 1860, there is a statement 
about Macaulay at school, purporting to come from an old 
schoolfellow. We are told that he was rather largely built 
than otherwise, but not fond of the ordinary physical sports 
of boys; with a disproportionately large head, slouch¬ 
ing or stooping shoulders, and a whitish or pallid com¬ 
plexion ; incessantly reading or writing, and often reading 
or repeating poetry in his walks with his companions. 
The titles of some of his boyish attempts have been pre¬ 
served, such as The Vision, Address to Milton, Inscription 
for the Column of Waterloo, Imitation of Lord Byron, Lines 
to the Memory of Pitt. In an obscure work, Traits of 
Character , I have met with the following anecdote, which 
lias an air of verisimilitude ; so I quote it without vouch¬ 
ing for it. Hannah More certainly exhorts him to keep 
himself tidy. 

“ Mr. Preston told a lady, who had rallied him on his 
excessive predilection for the lad’s society,—she holding 
that Hannah More's suggestion that her young friend 
should be ( very neat,’ was not sufficiently attended to, 
and Tom being in her eyes chiefly noticeable for unbrushed 
apparel, unkempt hair, and strong antipathy to soap and 
water— f All you say is true, madam, but it is also certain 
that Tom Macaulay is an extraordinary young man; he 
has much classical and more miscellaneous reading, a 
vivid imagination, and a prodigious memory; nor do I, 
either in or out of Cambridge, know any one with whom 
I can converse more pleasantly, or would prefer as my 
companion in my rambles of a Saturday afternoon.’ Both 
were right. Young Tom worshipped the Muses ardently, 
but paid no court whatever to the Graces. Some few 
weeks after the conversation we have above adverted to, 
as Mr. Preston, with his sisters and their visitor, sat after 


IS 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 


supper in the library at Shelford, his reverence was 
startled, and the females terrified, by loud cries of rage 
and furious expostulation, mixed with half-smothered 
laughter, proceeding from the pupils* room. Thither the 
Vicar, followed by the ladies, hurried, and there saw Tom 
Macaulay held down forcibly in an arm-chair by three of 
his schoolfellows, while a fourth was shaving him. Mr. 
Preston's entrance released the future orator from confine¬ 
ment, and Tom, almost beside himself with fury, amidst 
uproarious and utterly irrepressible shouts of merriment, 
spluttered forth his grievances, three parts eloquence and 
the remaining quarter soap-suds. At length, when out of 
breath with raving, the well-lathered plaintiff ceased his 
torrents of volubilitv, and Mr. Preston looked towards the 
aggressors for an explanation. ‘ Sir,’ cried their spokes¬ 
man, f we are sorry to have disturbed your quiet. But 
Tom Macaulay’s slovenly habits are disrespectful to your 
sisters, to their visitor, and to yourself; they bring, more¬ 
over, much discredit upon us all. We have often threatened 
him, but he will take no warning; and so this evening we 
resolved to give him a thorough cleaning.’ Mr. Preston 
heard, pondered, and anon delivered a judgment, his sen¬ 
tence being worthy of King Solomon or Sancho Panza. 
He forbade the use of razors, as being too dangerous, and 
indeed premature; but with that sole restriction gave full 
licence to Tom's schoolfellows to employ comb, brush, and 
towel upon the recusant whenever forcible ablution should 
be necessary." 

Later he spent some time with the wise old lady, who 
thought him frail in body, and made him live a good deal 
in the open air. She and her young visitor would con¬ 
verse in ballad-rhymes or Johnsonian sesquipedalians; 
condescending at tea to riddles and charades. She found 


YOUTHFUL PROMISE. 


19 


him as “ boyish as studious,” and I believe it is a mistake 
to suppose be could not be a boy among boys. The old 
lady lived to see the accomplishment of her wish that 
“ Tom might be in Parliament, for then he would beat 
them all.” Lord Macaulay always cherished a warm recol¬ 
lection of Hannah More, and when an invalid at Clifton, 
pointed out her house and spoke of her with affection. 
We are now about the date when he went up to college, 
and justified the assertion that was ever made respecting 
him, that he was the cleverest schoolboy and cleverest 
undergraduate in England. His old tutor was delighted 
and astonished by his successes. “ That, Sir,” he once 
exclaimed, pointing to a book, “is the Horace used by the 
Right Honourable Thomas Babington Macaulay.” 


CHAPTER II. 


CAMBRIDGE. 

When the gray October evenings began to draw in 
over the Cambridgeshire flats, from all parts of the country 
men trooped up to Alma Mater. Among these was the 
young Macaulay. His name had been in the books of 
the college for some time, and appears in the Calendar 
published the preceding March. There is this great 
difference between a small college and a large college. 
In a small college, freshmen instinctively herd together; 
and if it is a place noted for much good fellowship, all 
the men in course of time come to possess a passing 
acquaintance. In a large college it is different. A 
man only knows such men as he knew before he came 
up, or such as he brings introductions to, or a few with 
whom he is accidentally thrown in contact at hall or 
lecture. Among the freshmen of the year it is usual 
enough to discuss those who are supposed likely to dis¬ 
tinguish themselves. The Senior Wrangler or Senior 
Classic is frequently designated three years before the 
event. With Macaulay at college was another Macaulay, 
the son of the Vicar of Rothley, who had greatly distin¬ 
guished himself at Rugby. His relations, the Babingtons, 
have a curious privilege at Trinity College. There are 
a set of rooms preserved for Babingtons only, and can 
only be occupied, through their permission, by other men. 


POSITION AT CAMBRIDGE. 


21 


The writer in Notes and Queries who gives this, is loud in 
his admiration of the Babingtons. Forty coats of noble 
and illustrious families decorate their shield—they have 
four crests, three badges, and a right to supporters ! 

Macaulay was already designated as the great man 
of his year. Yet those who only saw his face in repose 
considered it heavy and unintellectual, and augured little 
of his talents or success. The tutor to whose charge he 
fell was Dr. Monk, Regius Professor of Greek, and after¬ 
wards Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. About this time 
we learn the advent of a new assistant tutor among the 
dons—the Rev. William Whewell, B.A. It seems that 
Macaulay’s name had been favourably mentioned to the 
tutor, who paid him the compliment of calling upon him to 
construe the first passage that occupied the attention of the 
class of freshmen. It was the chorus that opens the Persse 
of iEschylus. We may be sure that the big word, and 
catalogue of Persian chiefs was translated in an accurate 
and spirited manner. The set of men among whom 
Macaulay was thrown were essentially as brilliant a set 
as ever lighted up old Trinity with mirth and wit. But I 
am assured by a friend and contemporary of Macaulay— 
himself a contributor to Knight—that though there were 
many clever men there, there was only one man, and that 
was Macaulay, who impressed him with the irresistible 
belief that he would attain future greatness in the State. 

Mr. Perry, another of Macaulay’s contemporaries, who 
was himself highly distinguished at Cambridge, states: * 
Macaulay came up a decided Tory, and when the 
whole nation went mad respecting the trial of Queen 
Caroline was loud in her denunciation. I suspect his 

* Contributions to an Amateur Magazine, Appendix iii. By R. Perry, 
M.A., Latin Scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge. 


22 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

uncle Aulay had given him no good report respecting her 
Majesty. Later, however, he became a convert to Whiggism 
through his acquaintance with Lord Clarendon and his 
brother Sir Charles Yilliers. We are told of his affec¬ 
tionate disposition; that he w r alks home every day; of his 
simplicity in giving a w hole handful of silver to chorister 
boys; in eating and talking at breakfast while the gyp w r as 
cleaning his boots; in rushing off with the first pair of 
gloves on the counter in which he could put his hands. 
It is not often worth while, to use an expression of Mr. 
Hallam’s, to turn the microscope upon the details of 
private life, but such details (et ab uno clisce omnes ) assist 
us towards an idea of the simplicity and directness of his 
character. 

It was in October, 1818, when Macaulay was eighteen 
within a few days,* that he came into residence. In the 
ensuing Easter he was engaged in the annual examination 
of the college. He came out in the first class among the 
freshmen. He appears in the first class with nine others, 
the names being alphabetically arranged.! Among the 
other names are those of Long, Malden, Baptist Noel, and 
Richard Perry. Another distinction fell to his lot, which 
is, perhaps, the most envied of all the University prizes, 
and for which there is certainly the liveliest competition. 
Macaulay obtained the Chancellor’s Gold Medal for the 
best English poem, the subject being Pompeii. The 
poem scarcely gives promise of future excellence. Some 
years later, in a short-lived periodical, the Cambridge 
Review, a poem on Pompeii appeared, bearing every mark 
of being an unsuccessful exercise for the same prize, and 
being at least as good. The poem w r as recited by the 

* Hot in his 19tli year, as Dean Milman says, 
t Hot within, as Mr. Perry states; nor in order of merit, as he infers. 


POETICAL SUCCESS AND FAILURE. 23 

author the day before the commencement, July 5th. It 
so happened that this day was a great day for Cambridge. 
The University was honoured with a visit, a day or two 
before, from the Chancellor. The Chancellor (H. R. TI. 
the Duke of Gloucester), the Duchess of Gloucester, and 
the Princess Sophia of Gloucester, had arrived in carriages, 
each with six horses, and the Vice-Chancellor and Heads 
of Houses had gone in procession to congratulate their 
Royal Highnesses on their arrival. This was on Saturday. 
On Sunday, it is recorded that the illustrious visitors 
went to Trinity Chapel, heard two sermons, went to two 
entertainments, and gratified the public by walking 
about Clare-liall-piece in the evening. The following day, 
after the levee, the Chancellor and the Princesses, with 
a brilliant company, went to the senate house, where 
honorary degrees were bestowed upon nearly twenty 
noble and honourable personages. Before this splendid 
assembly the young Macaulay was called upon to recite 
his poem—his first appearance in public life, and a bril¬ 
liant augury of his future career. 

The next year Macaulay tried again for the prize poem. 
Differing from the rule at Oxford, the successful com¬ 
petitor may compete again, and has three chances. The 
subject was Waterloo. Macaulay was unsuccessful, to his 
own great chagrin and the disappointment of his friends. 
The poem is still in existence, and is really considered a 
very fair one. The prize was given to Mr. George Eaving 
Scott, of Trinity Hall, whose performance is of a very 
average description. A college honour was, however, 
obtained. A certain Dr. Powis left a prize of 4/. to 
Trinity College for the best Latin declamation. The day 
after the Audit (Audit of Dec. 13th, and we have all heard 
of the renowned Audit ale) the successful student delivers 


24 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOBD MACAULAY. 

a panegyric on some celebrated character. Silver goblets 
are also given away for the best English declamations on 
subjects connected with English history. We are sur¬ 
prised not to see Macaulay's name here. In all proba¬ 
bility he tried; but college distinctions, though invariably 
given with honesty, do not always fall to the best man. 
He obtained a much more valuable distinction in being 
admitted a scholar on the Foundation. 

The year 1820 is marked by the death of Dr. Mansell, 
the Bishop of Bristol and Master of Trinity. He had 
been tutor to the Chancellor, the Duke of Gloucester, 
when he was a student at Trinity. He was a man 
reported to have done good service to literature and 
literary men. Mr. Perceval had given him the see of 
Bristol, and Mr. Pitt had appointed him Head of Trinity, 
“ in order to correct the disorders which had crept into 
that society." In the correspondence of Hannah More 
there is an extremely beautiful letter which he addressed 
to that lady. He was succeeded by Christopher Words¬ 
worth, with whose historical tastes the young Macaulay 
must have felt great sympathy, although he never could 
have accepted the theory of the new Master respecting 
the authorship of Ikon Basilike. 

The next year, March 9th, 1821, Macaulay attained 
almost the highest classical distinction within his reach. 
Three Craven scholarships of the value of 50/. a year each 
w r ere competed for. There were twenty-five candidates. 
They were respectively adjudged to George Long, Thomas 
Babington Macaulay, and Henry Malden, all of Trinity. 
The names were arranged in alphabetical order, it being 
the opinion of the examiners that their merits were 
equal. 

The same year he once again contributed the English 


PRIZE POEM 


EVENING.” 


25 


prize poem, the subject being Evening. This is really 
a splendid poem, and we greatly regret that it has not 
been included in the edition of his Miscellaneous Writings. 
As in the case of all young poets, there is a great deal of 
imitativeness, conscious or unconscious, of favourite poets. 
“ And I have loved thee, Evening” is manifestly after 
“ And I have loved thee, Ocean,” of Cliilde Harold : this, 
unimportant in itself, is one of various instances. The 
reader who would first read Pope^s Eloisa to Abelard, and 
then the Deserted Village, will see how carefully young 
Macaulay studied these best models of this kind of verse, 
and how much he owed to them. We give an extract 
which is not at all likely to be in the hands of our readers. 
The reader will recognise at once his intense fondness for 
literature, and that vein of allusion in which he so much 
excelled. 

“Nor less, enchantress, to tliy reign belong 
The mines of science, and the flowers of song, 

And every glorious deed arid thought sublime, 

By virtue, or by genius, snatch’d from time. 

I love to trim the taper o’er the page 
Where lives the mind of poet or of sage. 

Then, as that beauteous and imperial Fay,* 

Renown’d in many a wild Ausonian lay, 

Crowds with fair shapes, and paints, with glorious dyes, 

The sparkling azure of Sicilian skies ; 

And hangs her pillar’d domes and wavering shades, 

Her terraced streets and marble colonnades, 

O’er the bright waters of that sapphire sea 
Which laves thy sunny realms, Parthenope ; 

So o’er the soul the Muse’s spells diffuse 
The pomp of graceful forms and lovely hues ; 

Things uncreated, men unborn appear ; 

The past is present, and the distant near. 

In long array on Fancy’s wond’ring eyes, 

Visions of beauty or of terror rise ; 


* The Fairy Morgana. 



26 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


The cauldron,* mantling with the drags of hell, 

The suppliant charms of purest Isabel ; + 

Or that dire huntsman, t whom, with shuddering awe. 
The love-sick wand’rer of Ravenna saw : 

Now, led by Milton’s mighty hand, she roves 
Though the dark verdure of primeval groves, 

By streams that from their crystal bosoms fling 
The gay profusion of unfading spring ; 

O’er beds of flow’rs, more fair, more frail than they, 
She views a form of peerless beauty stray ; 

Tend the gay fragrance of the nuptial shade, 

And twine her locks with, many a dewy braid. 

The rose-crown’d priest § of love and wine, she sees 
Lead his quaint pageant through the moonlit trees. 

She roams through proud Duessa’s gilded hall; || 

She melts in anguish o’er Clarissa’s pall. 

The fabled East pours forth its witching dreams, 

Sweet as its gales, and gorgeous as its beams ; 

The Gothic muse recounts, in northern rhyme, 

The sterner legends of a sterner clime ; 

Her tales of trophied lists and rescued maids, 

Of haunted fountains and enchanted glades. 

To graver themes shall wit and mirth succeed, 

And urge the ling’ring hours to fleeter speed ; 

Again Parolles shall seek his luckless drum, 

And Falstaff jest, and.Epicene be dumb ; 

The city’s champion ** wield his flaming mace, 

And dear Sir Roger lead the joyous chace. 


He now joined the Union of Cambridge, so called 
because it is in union with similar clubs at Oxford and 
Cambridge. In his poem, St. Stephen’ s } Bulwer Lytton 
lias this allusion to it:— 


“ And every week that Club-room famous then, 

Where chicklings settled questions spoilt by men, 
When grand Macaulay sate triumphant down, 

Heard Praed's reply, and longed to halve the croWn.” 


* See Macbeth. f See Measure for Measure. 

t See Theodore and Honoria. § Covius. 

|| Spenser’s Faerie Queen, book i., canto 4. 

1l See Ben Jonson’s Silent Woman. 

** See Fletcher’s Knight of the Burning Pestle , 



LORD BROUGHAM'S ADVICE. 


27 


Sir Bulwer Lytton goes on to anticipate for Praed a 
brilliant parliamentary career, bad bis life been spared. 
Those, however, who knew Praed best, and would be 
naturally disposed to form the highest conception of his 
abilities, have greatly doubted. In the efflorescence and 
high spirits of youth, there is much that often passes for 
genius, but which is unable to stand the test of time and 
the w^ear and tear of life. At the same time, there were 
one or two walks of letters in which Praed shone with 
peculiar brilliancy. To the Union* Macaulay devoted 
himself with great ardour, and appears to have given 
systematic attention, to the study of oratory. Lord 
Brougham heard, through Lord Grey’s son, of Macaulay’s 
celebrity at the Union, and he wrote Zachary Macaulay a 
somewhat remarkable letter, with which I have no doubt 
my readers are familiar, containing some wise hints for 
one who would aspire to oratorical greatness. I suspect 
that Macaulay, young as he w r as, could have given Lord 
Brougham some shrewd hints about oratory and other 
subjects. I believe most men will be of opinion that 
Lord Brougham’s speeches are not of so high an order of 
merit as those by Lord Macaulay. The pith of the letter 
was, that when by any and all means he had gained the 
power of fluent speech—which is to real oratory what a 
child’s talk is to grammatical conversation—he should 
study the Greek orators and Dante. Lord Brougham 
says, that he composed his peroration to the defence of 
Queen Caroline after about twenty attempts, and the 
study of a great quantity of Demosthenes, with a 
success scarcely commensurate to the enormous pains. 

* The name has caused quaint mistakes. A local paper once observed : 
“Boards of Guardians do strange things: the Oxford Union has been 
discussing the policy of Mr. Gladstone.” 


28 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


My object in mentioning the letter is to point out 
the attention and carefulness with which Macaulay 
adopted the advice. Lord Brougham especially recom¬ 
mends Demosthenes and Dante; and young Macaulay 
forthwith proceeded to study all the Athenian orators 
and the principal Italian poets. He embodied the results 
of his studies in articles in Knight's Quarterly Magazine 
on “ The Athenian Orators/' and papers on the principal 
Italian poets, only two of which, however, appeared— 
Dante and Petrarch. I am able to give some tolerably 
fair specimens of Macaulay's Union speeches. In a book 
now out of print, Conversations at Cambridge , there are 
several published extracts of his speeches. The author 
of the work, to whom I communicated my intention of 
making quotations, has obligingly informed me, that they 
were not taken from anything printed by Macaulay him¬ 
self; and, after the lapse of so many years, he is unable 
to name the sources from which they were derived. 
From the context, however, and the internal evidence, it 
can scarcely be doubted that they are tolerably fair 
transcripts of what was actually spoken. 


OLIVER CROMWELL. 

“Of all the remarkable characters of English history, 
Cromwell has, I think, met with the most unmeasured 
judgments. He has been viewed only through the glass 
of powerful prejudice; and his mental aspect has darkened 
into terror, or relaxed into beauty, according to the feel¬ 
ings of the beholder. He has been the delight and the 
scourge, the glory and the disgrace, of the world. Voltaire 
pronounced him an usurper worthy to reign; Mazarin 
called him a fortunate fool; Clarendon stigmatised him 


“ UNION’' ORATORY. 29 

as a brave bad man; South saw in him a lively copy of 
Jeroboam. By one party he was regarded as the cham¬ 
pion of liberty, making a passage for the people of God 
through the armies of the enemy and the principalities 
of darkness; by the other, as a master of hypocrisy, a 
bigoted enthusiast, an evil angel of the Apostacy. The 
voice of hatred has deepened over his ashes. Calumny, 
sir, possesses in an uncommon degree the property of 
adhesion; the longer it remains, the harder it becomes; 
until, in the course of time, the colour of the moral coun¬ 
tenance, the very shape and expression of the features, 
are incrusted and defaced by this leprous pollution. 
I stand not here, sir, to-night as the advocate or the 
panegyrist of that melancholy domestic tragedy which 
was presented before this afflicted nation in that tem¬ 
pestuous season. But, sir, I would ask, Was there no 
provocation, no exaction ? no insult to the dignity of 
man? no invasion of the sanctity of a Briton's fireside? 
Sir, the grave of Hampden has a voice; let it answer for 
me \ Tyranny had dashed its mailed hand upon the 
mouth of every freeman; the life-blood of the laws was 
drained out by unnumbered wounds. Despotism had 
uplifted its standard; the hearts of men failed for fear. 
At this dark and dreary period, all eyes turned to the 
star of Cromwell, which then began to show itself above 
the horizon. By many of the most eminent men, of an 
age fruitful in the highest qualities of the intellect, he 
was hailed as the servant of Providence, chosen to con¬ 
duct the agitated kingdom into a happy and honourable 
repose. 

“ Milton regarded him as the tutelar divinity of the 
national freedom; as the incorruptible priest of a new 
hierarchy; a chieftain who was to rule the empire by his 


30 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


wisdom, to recall the popular mind to a severer and purer 
discipline, to vanquish and trample to death under his 
feet every pleasure and temptation; to bear himself, in 
short, as one whose meditations were sanctified and 
ennobled by a peculiar intercourse with his Maker. His 
first exploits he declared had been against himself; his 
first victories over his own appetite. Thus had he from 
his youth been knitting an armour for his soul; and thus 
enthusiastically did one of the brightest intellects of the 
age welcome the dawn of what he thought would shine 
into a glorious morning.* No wonder that Cromwell 
disappointed such ardent expectations. Never was the 
founder of a political dynasty placed in a situation of 
more eminent peril. The voice of disaffection resounded 
in the camp. On one side were gathered the Anabaptists, 
with Harrison, once the staunchest and most intrepid 
friend of the Protector; on the other side lay the 
Royalists, ever ready to spring upon the usurper. The 
political Argus needed all his hundred eyes. Even in his 
chamber the sword hung over his head. But Cromwell 
possessed in an eminent degree that crowning quality in 
a politician—decision of character. His sudden dissolu¬ 
tion of the Parliament in the January of 1658, was a 
master-blow of policy. By that single stroke he severed 
the head of the Opposition, and left it only a paralysed 
and powerless body. It was well remarked by Warburton, 
that Cromwell is distinguished from other enslavers of 
their country : they vanquished it when sunk in luxury 
and pleasure; he when every village swarmed with eager 
and undaunted champions : they crept upon her, overcome 
with the weariness of voluptuous riot; he chained her, 
awake and in perfect vigour. The shadow of his name 

* See Milton’s Dcfensio pro Populo Angliccino. 


“union” oratory. 31 

was not confined to England. 1 He had no sooner made 
himself sovereign/ said one who spoke with authority, 
though with something of hyperbolical praise, ‘than all 
the kings of the earth prostrated themselves before him/ 
Mazarin flattered his ambassador, while the exiled 
Charles was treated with contempt; Spain congratulated 
him; Holland struck a medal in his honour; Sweden 
stretched out her arms to him; Italy, says Burnet, 
trembled at his name; the pride of the Osmanlis bowed 
before him. Eor the sufferings of the Church during the 
period of puritanical domination, no heart bleeds more 
than mine. But let the saying of Montesquieu be 
remembered—every religion which is persecuted, becomes 
itself persecuting; for the moment when by any acci¬ 
dental change of fortune it rises from the persecution, it 
attacks the religion from which that persecution came— 
not as a religion, but as a tyranny. It was not so much 
against the Church as against the intemperate zeal of her 
servants, that the fury of the people burst forth. Of the 
real sentiments of the Protector it would be idle to 
attempt an examination in this place. It was the opinion 
of Baxter, who had the best means of forming a correct 
judgment, that at one period of his life, at least, he was 
sincere. But, sir, I believe that a thirst for personal 
aggrandisement never yet accompanied true religion. 
The Christian aims at power—if he aim at it at all—not 
for his own sake, but for others. Cromwell might at 
some seasons have been influenced by religious feelings; 
but the great idol of his heart was Ambition; this, like 
the Ur of the Chaldeans, devoured all the rest. The 
greatness of his character every one must admit. The 
drama in which he played so terrible a part, closed as it 
opened. Cromwell on his death-bed was the Cromwell of 


32 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

Marston Moor. The eyes of the dying man rested with 
feverish anxiety upon that Pillar of Renown which he had 
erected at such a fearful cost. His last dreams were of 
glory ; his last thoughts upon the opinions of posterity 


LORD STRAFFORD. 

“Who ever dashed himself with a more reckless mad¬ 
ness from the golden pinnacles of a high and noble 
fortune, than this apostate from the Commonwealth of 
England? He appears to have been in politics what his 
friend Laud was in religion; equally impetuous, equally 
haughty, equally careless of consequences. The Strafford 
Letters might be called the Confessions of a Tyrant. 
There we see the qualities of his mind depicted as clearly 
as the dark pencil of Vandyke has written them upon 
canvas. This overbearing arrogance was the charac¬ 
teristic of his associates; and they became its first victims. 
They despised the lawyers, and the Church fell by the 
law. The fantastic apparitions of Prynne and of Eliot,* 
from which they thought it the meanest folly in the world 
to start aside, were among the most terrible appearances 
that glared upon them in their night of danger and of 
death. 

“ Strafford was the victim of a pusillanimous master. 
What a subject for an historical picture is furnished by 
the visit of the Secretary Carleton to the chamber of this 
unfortunate minister, for the purpose of communicating 
to him the King’s signature of the bill! His incredulity, 
his confidence in the promise of the monarch, and then 
his final conviction of his master’s weakness; his uplifted 


See the Strafford Letters. 


GRADUATION. 


33 


eyes, his hand upon his heart, and that indignant ex¬ 
clamation of scorn and sorrow, e Put not your trust in 
princes, nor in the sons of men , for in them there is.no 
salvation’ Here are hints for a painter, if, indeed, his 
trial do not offer a still more inspiring theme. The 
power of his mind, and the invincible strength of his 
courage, supported him to the end. During seventeen 
days, under all the depression of sickness, and in the 
midst of relentless and triumphant enemies, he continued 
to defend himself with undaunted valour. 

“ Thus much I have felt myself bound to declare 
respecting this extraordinary individual. Would that I 
could love his character as I admire his genius ! But I 
have done. Far from me, and this assembly, be the 
imperious bigotry which delights to dig up the skeletons of 
the departed, only to mutilate and insult them. Never, 
never, shall the rabid fierceness of polemical hatred cheer 
me on to such a desecration of the grave; never, never, 
will I forget what I owe to the cause of truth and the 
sanctity of our faith. I will strip the dead of nothing 
but their arms.” 

On January 19th, 1822, he took his degree as B.A. 
Macaulay’s name does not appear on the class list. He 
did not try for mathematical honours, and the classical 
tripos was not yet instituted. In consequence of doing 
nothing in mathematics, he lost his chance of being 
Chancellor Medalist—for which he would have had a very 
good chance—no one under the degree of Senior Optime 
being eligible as a candidate. The medals fell to his 
two old competitors, Long and Malden. Mr. Long was 
Golden Spoon, i.e., last of the Wranglers, and Mr. Malden 
a middle Senior Optime. 

He continued at Cambridge, the Craven scholarship 

D 


34 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOIiD MACAULAY. 

necessitating a certain amount of residence. At this 
point I discover a notice respecting him which possesses 
very great interest. According to the will of Mr. Greaves 
of Ealbourne, a prize of ten pounds is adjudged to any 
junior Bachelor of Arts of Trinity College, who should 
write the best essay on the conduct and character of 
King William the Third. Macaulay wrote the essay, and 
obtained the prize. It is interesting to find that the 
subject of his earliest writings and the last were the same. 
It is just possible that his attention being directed in this 
direction at so early a time, determined his bias towards 
his future historical studies. 

He now became a contributor to the newly-established 
j Knight's Quarterly Mayazine. This was brought out by 
a group of Etonians, among whom Praed was most con¬ 
spicuous, who had come up to Cambridge some time after 
Macaulay. They had previously conducted with great 
success a capital publication called the Etonian. It is 
interesting to compare the Etonian with its famous Eton 
predecessor, the Microcosm. The Microcosm is written 
after the manner of the old Spectators and Ramblers, —a 
brief essay, with a classical motto. The Etonian is quite 
after the model of modern magazines, with most of which 
it would bear a very favourable comparison. From the 
verv first he was one of the chief contributors to Knight. 
These papers have been reprinted in the Miscellaneous 
Writings, with the exception of a few that are known to be 
his, and a few without signatures which may be suspected 
to be. Among those consigned to oblivion are a couple of 
love poems, one of which I shall cite, as a specimen of the 
kind of verse of the “ eyebrows,” to which very naturally 
the young man gave some attention. I am afraid these 
poems indicate a greater acquaintance with Byron and 


ANACREONTIC. 


35 


Moore than his friend Miss Hannah More would have 
approved. 

‘ ‘ By thy love, fair girl of France, 

And the arch and bashful glance 
Which so well revealed it; 

By the flush upon thy brow, 

By the softly-faltered vow, 

And the kiss which sealed it; 

“ By those foreign accents dear, 

Whose wild cadence on mine ear 
Still in slumber lingers ; 

By thine eyes of sapphire splendour, 

By the thrilling pressure tender 
Of thy trembling fingers ; 

“ By thy pouting, by thy smiles, 

And by all the varied wiles 
Which so sweetly won me, 

Laughter, blushes, sighs, caresses, 

By thy lips and by thy tresses, 

Sometimes think upon me. 

‘ ‘ Think upon the parting day, 

And the tears I kissed away 
From thy glowing cheek ; 

Think of many a dearer token, 

Think of all that I have spoken, 

All I may not speak.” 

From an unreprinted article on the West India Slave 
Trade, I extract an autobiographical passage. It shows 
that at this time Macaulay’s literary taste preponderated, 
and that he was anything but the vehement politician he 
afterwards became. 

V 


“ON WEST INDIAN SLAVERY. 

“ We espouse no party. Zadig himself did not listen to 
the memorable controversy about Zoroaster and his griffins 
with more composure and impartiality than we hope to 


36 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


display on most of the subjects which interest politicians. 
We are neutrals,—neutrals after San Miguel's own heart, 
desirous only to mitigate the evils which we cannot avert. 
If we ever descend into the field of battle, it will be with 
the feelings not of combatants but of Sisters of Charity. 
It will be our object not to fight under the banners of 
either army, but to render the offices of humanity and 
courtesy to both." 

It certainly causes a smile when we recall Macaulay's 
actual conduct, when “he descended into the field of 
battle." His encounters with Croker and Peel form an 
odd commentary. 

The volumes of Knight contain many interesting 
notices of the life of the young Cantab. All the Cam¬ 
bridge scenery and customary incidents are vividly recalled 
to us; the studious mornings, the companionship of bright 
and genial spirits, the long gray flats, the renowned avenue 
of limes at Trinity, the gay festivities of the hall, the 
solemn twilight and gorgeous ritual of the chapel, the 
boating party and the wine party, and then a stirring 
debate at the “ Union," and a wind-up with a jolly oyster 
supper in Petty Cury. Nothing more surely indicates the 
gigantic powers of Macaulay than the strong hold with 
which, when so young a man, he seized upon the affections 
and imaginations of his contemporaries. Two finished 
portraitures of his character while at Cambridge have 
appeared, written each of them by a close friend. One 
of them is to be found in Mr. Moultrie's poems, so 
remarkable for tender thought and graceful versification, 
although Mr. Moultrie has signally failed to fulfil the 
brilliant promise of his youth. Mr. Moultrie’s is a most 
faithful, and occasionally a most unflattering portrait, yet 
full of genuine truth and affection :— 


PRE-RAPHAELITE DESCRIPTION BY MOULTRIE. 37 


“ Little graced 

With aught of manly beauty—short, obese, 

Rough featured, coarse complexion, with lank hair 
And small gray eyes .... his voice abrupt, 
Unmusical.” 

We hope Macaulay felt charmed at the frankness of 
his good-natured friend. Mr. Moultrie tells us that his 
brain— 

“ Endued 

With power to shape and mould its gathered wealth 
As need suggested, turned with ready tact 
Its huge artillery on whatever point 
It pleased him to assail—and, sooth to say, 

He was not over-scrupulous ; to him 
There was no pain like silence—no constraint 
So dull as unanimity : he breathed 
An atmosphere of argument, nor shrank 
From making, where he could not find, excuse 
For controversial fight. 


“ Meanwhile 

His heart was pure and simple as a child’s, 
Unbreathed on by the world—in friendship warm, 
Confiding, generous, constant; and though now 
He ranks among the great ones of the earth, 

And hath achieved such glory as will last 
To future generations, he, I think, 

Would sup on oysters with as right good will 
In this poor house of mine, as e’er he did 
In Petty Cury’s classical first-floor, 

Some twenty years ago.” 


A companion portrait lias been drawn of him by his 
gifted friend Praed, in a similar vein of good-natured 
banter, affection, and substantial accuracy. We are sur¬ 
prised that no collection of Praed’s fugitive pieces, which 
possess rare merit, has appeared in England. An American 
edition has of course appeared. We give the extract. 
We see how generally acknowledged and admired were 
Macaulay’s unrivalled and most universal acquisitions of 


38 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 


knowledge. “ Tristram Merton” was the cognomen 
which he assumed for his contributions :— 

“ ' Tristram Merton, come into court. 1 Then came up 
a short, manly figure, marvellously upright, with a bad 
neckcloth, and one hand in his waistcoat-pocket. Of 
regular beauty he had little to boast; but in faces where 
there is an expression of great power, or of great good 
humour, or both, you do not regret its absence. 

“ 1 They were glorious days/ he said, with a bend, and a 
look of chivalrous gallantry to the circle around him; f they 
were glorious days for old Athens, when all she held of 
witty and of wise, of brave and of beautiful, was collected 
in the drawing-room of Aspasia. In those the brightest 
and noblest times of Greece, there was no feeling so 
strong as the devotion of youth, no talisman of such 
virtue as the smile of beauty. Aspasia was the arbitress of 
peace and war, the queen of arts and arms, the Pallas of 
the spear and the pen. We have looked back to those 
golden hours with transport and with longing. Here our 
classical dreams shall in some sort wear a dress of reality; 
he who has not the piety of a Socrates, may at least fall 
down before as lovely a divinity; he who has not the 
power of a Pericles, may at least kneel before as beautiful 
an Aspasia/ 

“ His tone had just so much earnestness that what he 
said was felt as a compliment, and just so much banter 
that it was felt as nothing more. As he concluded, he 
dropped on one knee, and paused. 

c( ( Tristram/ said the Attorney-General, ' we really are 
sorry to cramp a culprit in his line of defence; but the 
time of the court must not be taken up : if you can speak 
ten words to the purpose- 3 

“ ‘ Prythee, Frederic/ retorted the other, f leave me to 



PRAED’s SKETCH OF “TRISTAM MERTON.” 


39 


manage my own course; I have an arduous journey to 
run; and, in such a circle, like the poor prince in the 
Arabian Tales, I must be frozen into stone before I can 
finish my task, without turning to the right or the left/ 

“ ‘For the love you bear us, a truce to your similes; 
they shall be felony without benefit of clergy; and silence 
for an hour shall be the penalty/ 

“ ‘ A penalty for similes ! — horrible ! Paul of Russia 
prohibited round hats, and Chihu of China denounced 
white teeth ; but this is atrocious ! ' 

“ ‘ I beseech you, Tristram, if you can for a moment 

forget your omniscience, let us-' 

“ ‘ I will endeavour. It is related of Zoroaster, 
that- 3 

“ ‘ Zoroaster before ladies ! monstrous ! You might as 
well eulogise couleur de rose before the President of the 
Royal Society/ 

“ f Upon my credit, Frederic, when I look at the faces 
before my eyes, and the narrow limits within which the 
officer compels me to run, I almost fancy myself totter¬ 
ing into paradise by the command of Monkir, over 
Mohammed's narrow bridge, with the houris beckoning 
from the bank.’ 

“‘Then, for heaven's sake, step straight forward, or 
you cannot choose but sink by the way/ 

“ e An algebraist could not travel more scrupulously to 

his point. Confucius himself-' 

" ‘ To what point you are tending, my dear Tristram, 
may I die a blockhead if I know; but you have now 
started from twenty different points of the compass, and 
are travelling ——' 

“ ‘ Even as Kehama drove into Padalon !' 

“ ‘ Oh, that he had chained you to his axle!' said 






40 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 


Frederic, tearing off liis wig in a passion. f Put it all in 
the hook, and begone; for the sober part of our jury have 
left us, and old time has tolled his longest chime, and my 
sister is as tired as the chancellor at the close of the 
session.’ ” 

We now hear of Macaulay’s first appearance in London, 
the great anti-slavery speech at Freemasons’ Hall, June 
24tli, 1824. Almost the opening sentence of his speech 
—that the cause should not want fresh champions, nor, 
if necessary, fresh martyrs—was loudly cheered. In this 
sentence, in all likelihood, he referred to his father, who 
had recently been exposed to much obloquy, and even 
persecution, by the supporters of the slave interest. 
Theodore Hook, in the John Bull , had been unremitting 
in his assaults. The following is a . specimen: “ Far 
are we from wishing to ask any question of Mr. Zachary 
Macaulay, the once needy overseer, now elevated into an 
opulent merchant, touching the sum of 129,951/. 11s. 11 d. 
paid to him on account of Sierra Leone; nor do we mean 
to inquire how much philanthropy was blended in the 
exertion to capture negroes for which upwards of 275,000/. 
has been paid by government.” We are told that notice 
of action was once given, hut it was probably thought 
that the attack was too absurd to he noticed. After the 
dissolution of the company, there was a commercial house, 
at Sierra Leone, of Babington and Macaulay. 

Of the meeting at Freemasons’ Hall and of Macaulay’s 
speech there is not the slightest notice in the Times. In 
the Morning Chronicle of next day a page is devoted to a 
very full report. By a mistake he is called Mr. J. 
Macaulay, instead of T. B. “ Loud and immense cheering ” 
greeted the conclusion. The reporter adds, “ the honour¬ 
able gentleman (Why is he called honourable ?) sat 


FREEMASONS’ HALL. 


41 


down amid the repeated plaudits of the meeting. This 
very eloquent address, of which our limits permit us to 
give but an extract, evidently produced a very strong im¬ 
pression on the meeting.” In the paragraphs that then 
did duty as leading articles, the speech is alluded to— 
“ The able and eloquent speech of Mr. J. Macaulay, a 
son of Mr. Zachary Macaulay, a youth of whom high 
expectations have been formed, which he will not disap¬ 
point, cannot fail to produce a strong impression on all 
who read the report of it.” The writer calls attention 
to the allusion to the English children at the Roman slave 
market, as “ a most happy one.” 

In October of the same year he was elected Fellow of 
Trinity. 


CHAPTER III. 


THE EDINBURGH REVIEWER. 

A few words ought to be said in reference to the last 
sentence of the last chapter. A Fellowship at Trinity is 
always the goal of a Trinity man's academical ambition. 
Those who have ever perused the papers set for the Trinity 
Fellowship examinations, must have been struck with the 
enormous grasp of subject, as well as the extreme minute¬ 
ness of detail, which they require. So far as I am aware, 
no other examination is so difficult, and no other examina¬ 
tion produces papers from the candidates of so high an 
order of merit. There are few distinctions so splendid 
and useful as those acquired in this way. Though Oxford 
travels far into paths on which Cambridge scarcely enters,— 
philosophy and history,—yet, in the classical field I imagine 
that the palm must rest with Cambridge for accurate and 
refined scholarship, and a Trinity Fellowship is the highest 
distinction of the kind which Cambridge can confer. 

For nearly three years after taking his degree Macaulay 
would have to read assiduously for this distinction. This 
would enable him to perfect what must always be the 
unripened scholarship of the undergraduate course, to 
carry out in a satisfactory manner the line of reading on 
which he had entered; and, as a Trinity Fellowship is a 
certificate of scholarship and ability, so too it implies the 
possession of great moral power and strength of character. 


A TRINITY FELLOWSHIP. 


43 


Without much steadfastness of purpose and much self- 
denial, such a distinction can be obtained by no young 
man. With the utmost clearness of view, Macaulay 
concentrated his attention on his principal object, and 
steadily subordinated all other pursuits to this. He was 
fond of oratory, and would feel much natural pleasure in 
exercising his natural ability this way; yet it was nearly 
the end of his undergraduate career before he joined the 
“Union.” From his earliest days he was addicted to 
literature, and knew the absorbing pleasure of the pursuit; 
yet it was not till after he had taken his degree that he 
became a contributor to the periodical press. Other men, 
even while at college, have devoted a preponderating 
attention to politics or literature, and the subsequent 
eminence to which they have attained has justified their 
course. But Macaulay, while eagerly bent on such dis¬ 
tinctions, saw that the safest and surest way to them was 
the path which his University sketched out for him; and 
though he might linger at the various avenues opened up 
to him, on the right hand and on the left, he made for the 
mark with simple directness of purpose. 

He often turned his classical studies to excellent account. 
He demolished a vindication of a passage of Mr. Choker's 
Boswell, by showing that the line from Euripides was 
corrupt, and asserting the true reading. One of his 
latest literary employments was to turn a piece from 
Plautus into Greek comic iambics, and he probably 
produced a very close approximation to what Menander 
might have written. He always looked back with peculiar 
satisfaction on his success at Trinity. His Fellowship 
secured him an independence at a time when such is most 
valuable to a young man, between the times of quitting 
college and of settling in life. It enabled him to fight 


44 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY, 

life’s battle from a vantage ground. He might therefore 
well regard with kindly eye those ancient religious and 
charitable foundations that benevolently foster genius and 
learning, and feel conscientiously opposed to all attempts to 
abolish or unduly tamper with such endowments. This 
was only a small part of his obligations to Cambridge. 

After he had secured his Fellowship, three pursuits lay 
open to the youthful student. He must have felt even then 
that their claims were contending, and that the chapter of 
accidents in a measure would determine his choice. The 
first of these was his profession of the bar, to which he 
would be called in the course of a few months. The 
second was literature, to which he was devotedly attached, 
and in which he had attained high distinction. The third 
was public life, politics,—and the goal of a young barrister’s 
ambition,—a seat in parliament. 

He was called to the bar in February, 1826. His legal 
career is very briefly sketched. I do not know if he ever 
took to the course of hard legal readings which Mr. 
Brougham sketched out for him, but as he has stated that 
he was no lawyer, most probably he did not. He went the 
northern circuit, at that time abounding with illustrious 
advocates—Brougham, Scarlett, Tin dal, Williams, Coltman, 
Alderson, Cross. In reading for this book I thought it as 
well to look over the circuit reports, the proceedings of 
the common law courts, and the legal periodicals. I 
should have been glad to have’ found that the young 
barrister had been retained as junior counsel in some 
celebrated case, such for instance as, when on his circuit, 
the Wakefields were arraigned for the abduction of Miss 
Turner, and all England was in a “ sensation.” It was 
with a sickening feeling that I looked down the news¬ 
paper columns of trials, seeing unhappy wretches sentenced 


FORENSIC EXPERIENCE. 


45 


to death in shoals for sheep-stealing, horse-stealing, house¬ 
breaking, forgery, and respited or left for execution in a 
manner in which no fixed principle is to he discerned, but 
mostty an arbitrary caprice. Neither in criminal or civil 
cases does he appear to have obtained any business. 

I might have spared myself the trouble. In one of 
his Indian speeches he has an autobiographical touch on 
the subject. He was proposing the health of the Calcutta 
bar. “ My own forensic experience, gentlemen,” said he, 
“has been extremely small, for my only recollection of 
an achievement that way is that at Quarter Sessions I 
once convicted a boy of stealing a parcel of cocks and 

hens. I earnestly hope they will have the good 

fortune to get more briefs than I did.” 

When therefore Sidney Smith begged Lady Grey to 
get the Whigs to make Macaulay Solicitor-General he was 
only perpetrating a more than usually brilliant joke. 
His friends made him a commissioner of bankruptcy; a 
very different office at that time to what it is now. There 
were then seventy commissioners, and Lord Westbury says 
they were known by the name of the Chancellor’s Septua- 
gint. The value of the appointment was about 400/. a 
year. When he was appointed legal member of the 
Supreme Council at Calcutta, it was probably felt that 
what was wanted was not a mere lawyer, but a judicial 
and statesmanlike mind. Thus much for his legal career. 

As soon, however, as he had obtained his Fellowship, 
he became something of a public character. The Edin¬ 
burgh Review paid him the compliment of praising his 
speech at Freemasons’ Hall, and the Quarterly of 
attacking it. In exaggerated rhetoric he had talked 
about people “ cutting up Magna Charta into battle¬ 
dores,” and this and similar language furnished the 


46 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


reviewer with a sufficient handle. The Edinburgh pro¬ 
nounced it “ a display of eloquence so signal for care and 
matured eloquence, that the most practised orators might 
well admire how it should have come from one who then 
for the first time addressed a public assembly.” The 
Edinburgh was then in want of fresh blood, and Jeffrey 
was on the look out for clever young men. Macaulay 
joined the Edinburgh , in a fortunate hour for the Review, 
for Jeffrey, and for himself. 

In August, 1825, the article on Milton came out, the 
first of a long list of illustrious articles. Assuredly 
Macintosh had written with greater depth, and Sidney 
Smith with greater wit, and the accomplished editor with 
a universal grace, variety, and ability. But Macaulay 
came forth wonderfully combining all these, bristling 
with point and glowing with eloquence, with an oriental 
wealth of imagery and illustration, and evidencing a supe¬ 
rior judgment presiding over vast stores of erudition. 
The article received extreme attention. Robert Hall, 
aged and diseased, was found lying on the floor, learning 
Italian, that he might be enabled to judge of the parallel 
drawn between Milton and Dante. Mr. Murray declared 
that it would be worth the copyright of Childe Harold to 
have Macaulay of Trinity on the staff of the Quarterly. 
The great writer himself has declared the paper overladen 
with gaudy ornament, and that there was scarcely a para¬ 
graph which his matured judgment approved of. Written 
when he was a young man, it is an article which to young 
men will always be peculiarly attractive. I think they 
would very unwillingly see either substantives or adjec¬ 
tives disturbed. I gratefully recollect the enthusiasm of 
delight with which I myself first read this paper, when a 
very young man, and the infinite good it did me, according 


ESTIMATE OF MACHIAVELLI. 


47 


to the measure of the recipient, in encouraging and 
directing my own reading. 

Considering the vast repute of the first article, rather 
a long time was allowed to elapse before a second appeared. 
In March, 1827, the paper on Machiavelli appeared. We are 
told that it was greatly admired at the time for “its depth 
of thought and terseness of expression.” I have for many 
years had a suspicion that the whole theory propounded 
of the character of Machiavelli is a mistaken one. It is 
no part of my business, on the present occasion, to review 
this famous review, but it is a theme which might well be 
recommended to a controversial writer. Macaulay then 
essayed a path which has been pushed of late years to an 
extreme extent, of giving an entirely new reading to the 
generally received version of an historical character. The 
historical student must now always hold his opinions 
in solution, expecting that some ingenious advocate may 
be ransacking state papers to prove that Henry VIII. was 
a mild monarch, whose only fault was his uxoriousness; or 
that Richard III. was a model uncle, and that that little 
affair in the Tower has been shamefully exaggerated. It 
is almost to be wished that our courts of literary judica¬ 
ture should establish in such cases a kind of Statute of 
Limitations. 

About the time that this new and brilliant contributor 
began to take a more active part in the Review, an old 
and brilliant contributor drew off. Sidney Smith being 
appointed by Lord Lyndhurst to a canonry in Bristol 
Cathedral, thought it would not become his position as a 
dignitary in the Church to write anonymously. I suspect 
that this again was one of Mr. Smith's sly touches of 
humour. Dignitaries write in the great reviews, and do 
not consider themselves in the least degree compromised 


48 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


by so doing. How can a clergyman be justified in doing 
a tiling before be is a canon, if he is not justified in doing 
so after he is a canon ? The occasion might be a fair one 
for retiring, but the excuse is not only absurd, but conveys 
an ill-grounded imputation on others. 

In the June number of 1827, a political article occurs 
entitled u The Present Administration,” being a review of 
Nos. I. and II. of the New Anti-Jacobin Review. The 
article has never been claimed as written by Mr. Macaulay, 
nor republished as his, except, I think, in some American 
edition. The internal evidence is, however, irresistible. 
It is a case of the application of the proverb, Aut Erasmus 
aut Diabolus. In a note the Edinburgh Review strenuously 
denies that it is possible to penetrate the incognito of the 
writer. In the October number of Blackwood for the 
same year it is openly attributed to him. As the only 
specimen of a purely political article by Macaulay it is 
very interesting, and calls for further remark. We must, 
however, revert to the circumstances under which it was 
written. 

On February 17tli, 1827, the Earl of Liverpool, the 
Premier, was found senseless in his room, holding a letter 
in his hands. He was in a paralytic fit. This fit proved his 
political death. It so happened that the letter mentioned 
was one Mr. Stapleton had written, informing him of Mr. 
Canning’s continued indisposition. In attending the fune¬ 
ral of the Duke of York at Windsor, one bitter cold nigrht 
at the end of January, the Foreign Secretary had caught a 
cold, which he vainly endeavoured to throw off. Notwith¬ 
standing his indisposition. Canning eagerly prepared to 
seize the splendid prize within his grasp. Genius,eloquence, 
statesmanlike accomplishments,—all marked Canning as 
the new Premier. The King was anxious to retain all his 


MINISTERIAL CHANGES. 


49 


Ministers, placing Canning at the helm. Various members 
of the Ministry were opposed to this appointment, influ¬ 
enced doubtless both by public and private motives,—in 
what proportion it is now difficult to decide. Mr. Peel fully 
made up his mind to resign in case a First Minister 
should be appointed favourable to the Catholic claims. 
The King’s own views were decidedly Anti-Romanist, and 
he was determined to do all he could to promote those 
views; but he was equally resolved in any case to have 
Canning as Premier. Accordingly Mr. Canning was 
gazetted First Lord of the Treasury. A rapid desertion 
ensued of many of his former colleagues. During the rest 
of February and the whole of March negotiations were 
going on respecting the appointments to the vacancies. 
The Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel went, and 
their places were very inefficiently supplied by the Marquis 
of Anglesey and Mr. Bourn. Lord Eldon, greatly to the 
relief of suitors in Chancery, ceased to be Chancellor, and 
his place was supplied by Lord Lyndhurst. Lord Pal¬ 
merston, as a matter of course, remained in office, and 
also obtained a seat in the Cabinet. Wetlierell went out, 
and was succeeded by Scarlett as Attorney-General. It 
was, however, obviously impossible for Canning to get on 
without aid from the Whigs. Now the Whigs had always 
looked upon Canning as possessing much in common with 
themselves. They regarded him very much as the Liberals of 
the present day regard Lord Stanley. At first a somewhat 
cold, and afterwards a more cordial, support was afforded 
by them to Mr. Canning. Brougham and Burdett both 
supported the new Ministry. The Marquis of Lansdowne 
became Secretary of State for the Home Department, and 
office was also conferred on Mr. Tierney, Mr. Wallace, 
Mr. Abercrombie, and Sir James MacDonald. The 


50 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

Catholic question was not made a Cabinet question. Of 
course the coalition did not escape its share of sneers. 
Lord Mansfield quoted the Anti-Jacobin,— u A sudden 
thought strikes me—let us swear eternal friendship.” 

The young barrister wrote in favour of the new Ministry. 
The following are some extracts :— 

“ We ought to apologise to our readers for prefixing 
to this article the name of such a publication. The two 
numbers which lie on our table contain nothing which 
could be endured even at a dinner of the Pitt Club, 
unless, as the newspapers express it, the hilarity had been 
continued to a very late hour. We have met, we con¬ 
fess, with nobody who had ever seen them; and, should 
our account excite any curiosity respecting them, we fear 
that an application to the booksellers will already be too 
late. Some tidings of them may perhaps be obtained 
from the trunk makers. 

“ In order to console our readers, however, under this 
disappointment, we will venture to assure them, that the 
only subject on which the reasonings of these Anti-Jacobin 
Reviewers throw any light, is one in which we take very little 
interest—the state of their own understandings ; and that 
the only feeling which their pathetic appeals have excited 
in us, is that of deep regret for our four shillings, which 
are gone and will return no more. It is not a very cleanly 
or a very agreeable task to rake up from the kennels of 
oblivion the remains of drowned abortions, which have 
never opened their eyes on the day, or ever been heard to 
whimper, but have been at once transferred from the filth 
in which they were littered, to the filth with which they 
are to rot. But unhappily we have no choice. Bad as 
this work is, it is quite as good as any which has appeared 
against the present Administration. We have looked 


MACAULAY ON PITT. 


51 


everywhere, without being able to find any antagonist 
who can possibly be as much ashamed of defeat as we 
shall be of victory. 

“ But we must take leave of the New Anti-Jacobin 
Review , and we do so, hoping that we have secured the gra¬ 
titude of its conductors. We once heard a schoolboy relate 
with evident satisfaction and pride, that he had been 
horse-whipped by a Duke: we trust that our present con¬ 
descension will be as highly appreciated.” 

“ The Duke in question,” wrote Blackwood, “ is Mr. 
Thomas Babington Macaulay, the son of the East India 
and Sierra Leone merchant and broker.” After some 
further humorous remarks of this nature, Blackwood de¬ 
nounces the article as “low, brutish, crazy, powerless black¬ 
guardism,” the writer widely overstepping the mark, and 
injuring his own cause as is the custom of violent people. 
The writer absurdly calls him “ Mr. Yapid! ” about the last 
term applicable. 

Those who are interested in tracing similarities of 
thought and language in different periods of an authors 
life, would do well to compare a passage in this, one of the 
earliest of Macaulay's writings, with a passage in the 
article on Pitt, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica , one of the 
latest. The internal evidence thus afforded would almost 
alone determine the authenticity of the article. In the 
Edinburgh of 1827 he writes :— 

“ There are indeed tw r o Pitts, the real and the imagi¬ 
nary—the Pitt of history, a Parliamentary Reformer, an 
enemy of the Test and Corporation Acts, an advocate of 
Catholic Emancipation and Free Trade; and the Canonised 
Pitt of the legend, as unlike his namesake as Virgil the 
magician to Virgil the poet, or St. James the slayer of 
Moors to St. James the Fisherman. 



52 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


“ The haters of reform call themselves Pittites, not 
choosing to remember that Pitt made three motions for 

Parliamentary Reform.The toast of Protestant 

ascendancy was drunk on Pitt’s birthday by a set of 
Pittites, who could not but be aware that Pitt had resigned 
his office because he could not carry Catholic Emancipa¬ 
tion. The defenders of the Test Act called themselves 
Pittites, though they could not be ignorant that Pitt had 
laid before George III. unanswerable reasons for abolish¬ 
ing the Test Act. The enemies of Free Trade called 
themselves Pittites, though Pitt was far more deeply 
imbued with the doctrines of Adam Smith than either 
Pox or Grey. The very negro-drivers invoked the name 
of Pitt, whose eloquence was never more conspicuously 
displayed than when he spoke of the wrongs of the negro. 
This mythical Pitt, who resembles the genuine Pitt as 
little as the Charlemagne of Ariosto resembles the Charle¬ 
magne of Eginhorst, has had his day.” 

We quote a portion of the conclusion, which is 
written in a vein of splendid eloquence which may be 
favourably compared wdtli anything he ever wrote. 

“ The paroxysm terminated. A singular train of events 
restored the house of Bourbon to the French throne. 
The exiles have returned. But they have returned as the 
few survivors of the Deluge—returned to a world in which 
they could recognise nothing, in which the valleys had 
been raised and the mountains depressed, and the courses 
of the rivers changed—in which sand and seaweed had 
covered the cultivated fields and the walls of imperial 
cities. They have returned to seek in vain, amidst the 
mouldering relics of a former system, and the fermenting 
elements of a new creation, the traces of any remembered 
object. The old boundaries are obliterated—the old laws 


EFFECTS OF FRENCH REVOLUTION. 


53 


are forgotten—the old titles have become laughing-stocks 
—the gravity of the parliaments and the pomp of the 
hierarchy — the doctors whose disputes agitated the 
Sorbonne—and the embroidered multitude whose foot¬ 
steps wore out the marble pavements of Versailles—all 
have disappeared. The proud and voluptuous prelates, who 
feasted on silver and dozed amidst curtains of massv 
velvet, have been replaced by curates who undergo every 
drudgery and every humiliation for the wages of lackeys. 
To those gay and elegant nobles who studied military 
science as a fashionable accomplishment, and expected 
military rank as a part of their birthright, have succeeded 
men horn in lofts and cellars; educated in the half-naked 
ranks of the revolutionary armies, and raised by ferocious 
valour and self-taught skill to dignities with which the 
coarseness of their manners and language forms a gro¬ 
tesque contrast. The government may amuse itself by 
playing at despotism, by reviving the names and aping 
the style of the old conrt—as Helenus, in Epirus, con¬ 
soled himself for the lost magnificence of Troy, by calling 
his brook Xanthus, and the entrance of his little capital 
the Scsean Gate. But the law of entail is gone, and 
cannot be restored. The liberty of the press is established, 
and the feeble struggles of the minister cannot per¬ 
manently put it down. The Bastile is fallen, and can 
never more rise from its ruins. A few words, a few 
ceremonies, a few rhetorical topics, make up all that 
remains of that system which was founded so deeply 
by the policy of the house of Valois, and adorned so 
splendidly by the pride of Louis the Great. 

“ Is this a romance ? or is it a faithful picture of what 
has lately been in a neighbouring land—of what may 
shortly be within the borders of our own ? Has the 


54 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


warning been given in vain ? Have onr Mannerses and 
Clintons so soon forgotten the fate of houses as wealthy 
and as noble as their own ? Have they forgotten how the 
tender and delicate woman—the woman who would not 
set her foot on the earth for tenderness and delicateness, 
the idol of gilded drawing rooms, the pole-star of 
crowded theatres, the standard of beauty, the arbitress of 
fashion, the patroness of genius—was compelled to change 
her luxurious and dignified ease for labour and depen¬ 
dence, the sighs of dukes and the flattery of bowing 
abbes for the insults of rude pupils and exacting mothers 
—perhaps even to draw an infamous and miserable 
subsistence from those charms which had been the glory of 
royal circles—to sell for a morsel of bread her reluctant 
caresses and her haggard smiles—to be turned over from 
a garret to a hospital, and from a hospital to a parish 
vault ? Have they forgotten how the gallant and luxurious 
nobleman, sprung from illustrious ancestors, marked out 
from his cradle for the highest honours of the state and of 
the army, impatient of control, exquisitely sensible of the 
slightest affront, with all his high spirit, his polished 
manners, his voluptuous habits, was reduced to request, 
with tears in his eyes, credit for lialf-a-crown—to pass 
day after day in hearing the auxiliary verbs mis-recited, 
or the first page of ‘ Telemaque 3 misconstrued by petu¬ 
lant boys, who infested him with nicknames and caricatures, 
who mimicked his foreign accent, and laughed at his 
threadbare coat ? Have they forgotten all this ? God 
grant that they may never remember it with unavailing 
self-accusation, when desolation shall have visited wealthier 
cities and fairer gardens; when Manchester shall be as 
Lyons, and Stowe as Chantilly; when he who now, in the 
pride of rank and opulence, sneers at what we have 


55 


“ SPIRIT OF PARTY.” 

written in the bitter sincerity of our hearts, shall 
be thankful for a porringer of broth at the door of 
some Spanish convent, or shall implore some Italian 
money-lender to advance another pistole on his 
George! ” 

Sidney Smith evidently alludes to this article in a 
letter to Mrs. Meynell, July, 1827. “The worst political 
news is that Canning is not well, and the Duke of 
Wellington has dined with the King. Canning dead, 
Peel is the only man remaining alive in the House of 
Commons,—I mean, the only man in his senses. The 

article on the new Ministry is by-: violent; but 

there is considerable power in it.” 

It was probably felt at head-quarters that the article 
had been too violent. In the next number there is an 
article on the “ Spirit of Party.” It is designed “ by 
way of supplement to the article in our last number, 
which has been in several particulars exceedingly mis¬ 
understood in some respectable quarters.” In a foot-note 
it is said, “ Among other mistakes we find it ascribed to 
several persons, eminent statesmen and others, who, if 
they have ever seen it, which we know not, assuredly 
never could have seen it before it was published.” The 
subject is however evidently taken out of his hands, or he 
has withdrawn from it. We miss the “ fine Roman hand.” 
Neither this article, nor the one in the ensuing number 
on the “ State of Parties,” are by him. It was probably 
on account of the violent language employed that this 
article is not given in the Miscellaneous Writings, which 
reclaimed so many of his scattered productions. There 
can be no doubt but in his young days Macaulay was an 
exceedingly violent and one-sided politician. It is well 
that in days of matured wisdom and tempered feelings 



56 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 

these early ebullitions should be tacitly disowned and 
forgotten. We do not judge by the same standard the 
young man and the old man; but in estimating the public 
career of a great man ; these memorable antecedents must 
be taken into account, as necessary constituents for an 
entire view. His violent invective was probably due to 
hasty syllogising. He knew that he was an honest man : 
a more incorruptible patriot never existed; no amount of 
stars and garters could make him swerve or falter. He 
knew also, as do all clever men, that he was himself a 
clever man. He could not understand therefore how 
opinions should be wrong that commended themselves both 
to good principles and good sense. His opponents must 
either be very stupid people, who cannot understand 
reason, or very dishonest people, who will not do so. He 
accordingly proceeded to impale them on the one horn o 
the dilemma or the other. 

On the 2nd of July that year, Parliament was pro¬ 
rogued. Despite the coalition which the Edinburgh re¬ 
viewer had so eloquently defended, Canning felt himself 
isolated and deserted. The great statesman was irritated, 
perplexed, and exhausted. After a brief tenure of power of 
four months he died at Chiswick, where Fox had also died. 
He was emphatically a great foreign secretary,—as great 
as Chatham, in a past generation, or Lord Palmerston in 
ours. His name will ever be associated—in the noblest 
way in which an Englishman could wish—with the Holy 
Alliance, with Portugal, and with the New World, which he 
called into existence to redress the balance of the old. 
In the renowned hall of Christ Church, the walls of which 
are thronged with the portraits of illustrious men belong¬ 
ing to that great foundation, there is no portrait that 
bears the impress of so much genius and sensibility as 


ARTICLE ON DRYDEN. 


57 


Canning’s; tlie portrait of Locke approaches to it the 
nearest. 

It is sad to reflect that, so far as we can venture to think, 
had Peel remained true to Canning that great and valuable 
life might have been spared. It is wonderful to think that 
in two years Peel passed that measure of Catholic emanci¬ 
pation from the apprehension of which he had deserted 
Canning. We by no means indorse Lord George Bentinck’s 
assertion, that Peel worried Canning to death. The gallant, 
high-souled, impetuous Minister, though galled by the 
conduct of his cold and cautious colleague, does not 
appear to have felt himself treated with injustice. There 
is something very puzzling in the relations between them. 
Peel did not attend Canning’s funeral, neither did he 
subscribe to his monument. In the documents published 
by Sir Robert Peel’s literary executors, Lord Stanhope 
and Mr. Cardwell, disappointing though they are in some 
respects, there is, we may believe, a complete vindication 
of the loftiness and integrity of his motives. At the same 
time there is much that betrays a very peculiar structure 
of mind, and must render his character a standing enigma 
in history. 

In January, 1828, the article on Dry den appeared, a 
paper which from fastidiousness or some unaccountable 
reason he never included in the collected essays. As a 
curiosity we quote some contemporary criticism from the 
Literary Gazette :— 

“ In candour we will confess that we have not been able 
to force ourselves to read this review; we question if any in¬ 
dividual in the kingdom has done so; but we have perused 
enough of it to warrant an opinion, that it is a compound 
of trite, common-place trash, and elaborate, uninteresting 
heaviness; that its middle is worthy of its beginning and 


58 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


ending, the first paragraph and the last being sheer non¬ 
sense, and desperate bad grammar to boot/’ The state¬ 
ment is an ill-natured falsehood. 

In the May number appeared his article on history, 
which was never reprinted during his lifetime. The 
reason probably was, that a low and unworthy view is 
taken of history, that everything is sacrificed to effect, 
picturesqueness, popularity, and success. If it had been 
inserted in the Essays, as formally embodying his views 
on history, hostile critics might have made excellent 
use of it. 

To this early period of his connection with the Edin¬ 
burgh are attributed, I think incorrectly, some articles on 
the West Indies: “ By young Tom Macaulay,” says 
Blackwood, “ who is really a clever lad, though pert and 
absurd in the highest degree.” They are worth reading, 
but I scarcely think they are his, though some passages 
have a great likeness to his style. 

In September, 1828, appeared the paper on Hallam’s 
Constitutional History, and in March, 1829, the first 
article that appeared respecting Mr. Mill’s Essays on 
Government, and the controversy on "the greatest happi¬ 
ness ” principle. He sparkled over the subject in a 
brilliant, flippant manner that must have been amusing 
and provoking to the deep thinkers of the day. It is a 
great pity that these articles have been reprinted. 
Macaulay himself thought it right to apologise for the 
“ unbecoming acrimony ’* with which he assailed the great 
historian of British India. It is very well to say that. Mr. 
Mill is now dead. Respect is due to the memory of a 
great man, as well as to his feelings. Another objection 
is that they place Macaulay himself in an unfavourable 
point of view. Abstract reasoning was never his forte. 


OLD EBONY” ON “YOUNG MACAULAY.” 


59 


He indulges in fallacies from which the study of Bishop 
Butler’s writings would have saved him. 

In the January number, 1830, there is a paper on 
political economy — Mr. Sadler’s School and Political 
Economists. This is distinct from the later two articles 
on Mr. Sadler which have been reprinted, and we can only 
conjecture the authorship. There can, however, be little 
or no doubt that Macaulay was the author. The vein of 
rhetoric and anecdote is peculiarly his. In the same 
number is a review of Southey's Colloquies. As it is only 
fair the other side should be heard, we give a quotation 
from the Nodes Ambrosiance, —vigorous, though perhaps a 
little too broad :— 

North. “ Southey’s Colloquies are, in the opinion of 
young Macaulay, exceedingly contemptible." 

Shepherd. “ And wha’s young Macaulay ? " 

North. “The son of old Macaulay." 

Shepherd. “ And wha the deevil's auld Macaulay? " 

North. “ Zachary." 

Shepherd. “ What ? The Sierra Leone saint, who has 
been the means of sendin’ sae mony sinners to Satan 
through that accursed settlement?" 

North. “The same. But James, as I was saying, 
Thomas Macaulay informs his fellow-creatures that Robert 
Southey’s mind is utterly destitute of the power of dis¬ 
cerning truth from falsehood." 

Shepherd. “ Then Thomas Macaulay is nather more nor 
less than an impertinent puppy for his pains ; and Maga 
should lay him across her knee, doun wi his breeks, and 
haun’ ower head with the tause on his doup like Dominie 
Skelp." 

North, “tie adds, 'Mr. Southey brings to the task two 
faculties which were never, we believe, vouchsafed in 


GO 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


measure so copious to any human being, the faculty of 
believing without a reason, and the faculty of hating 
without a provocation/ and again f in the mind of Mr. 
Southey, reason has no place at all as either leader or 
follower, as either sovereign or slave. 5 55 

Shepherd. “ I wonner, sir, boo you can remember sic 
malignant trash.*’ 

North. “ He’s a clever lad, James -.” 

Shepherd. “ Evidently, and a clever lad he’ll remain, 
depend ye upon that, a 5 the days of his life. A clever lad 
thirty year auld and some odds is to ma mind the maist 
melancholy sight in nature. Only think o’ a clever lad o’ 
tlireescore-and-ten, on his death-bed, wha can look back 
on nae greater achievement than haein' aince, or aiblins 
ten times, abused Mr. Southey in the Embro Review.” 

In April, 1830, appeared his review of Robert Mont¬ 
gomery’s poems. I have always regretted that this 
merciless onslaught has been reprinted in every successive 
edition. The errors complained of have been amended. The 
serious imputation of dishonest puffing has been categori¬ 
cally disproved and denied. The poem had reached, before 
the death of its author, its twenty-fifth edition. And it is 
absurd to suppose that this could have been the case if it 
had indeed been utterly destitute of merit. Mr. Mont¬ 
gomery distinguished himself as a critic, and as the author 
of prose works evidencing much thought and reading; 
above all, as a hardworking and devout minister. It 
would have been w T ell that this offensive review should 
have been withdrawn on account of its injustice, instead of 
being retained on account of its cleverness. The review 
made a rankling impression on Mr. Montgomery’s mind. 
In one of his sermons he exhorts the young man not to 



REVIEW OF ROBERT MONTGOMERY. 01 

sink “ into the hired assassin of an unprincipled review.” 
Our reader will not fail to be amused by the remarks he 
has on the subject in a note to his poem on Oxford. 

“oxford, or alma mater. 

“A few months since an order issued from proprietary 
head-quarters, for a certain young writer to be immolated 
in the next number 'of the Blue and Yellow In 
obedience to this command several articles were prepared, 
all of which finally yielded to the one that was inserted, 
as combining a due quality of venom, with an affectionate 
candour towards an ill-used public. Major a canamus , let 
us, with modest gaze, approach the ‘ bright excess ’ of 
this surpassing criticism. After a little uncomfortable 
wriggling, the reviewer works his way into the subject— 
Puffery. Here, it is painful to add, that two or three 
pages are pilfered from e the Puffiad ’ without any 
acknowledgment of the offence. After this follows a 
verbal analysis, rather clumsy and by no means original. 
The reviewer had evidently seen better days; though 
accustomed from the blushing dawn of his talents to per¬ 
form the scrub work of criticism, still he had occasionally 
spoken truth, and slept soundly after praising an author. 
Here, however, was a task of peculiar dirtiness, which 
threatened to soil even his hands, all accustomed as they 
were to menial offices. He had to grope his way through 
sixteen pages of lying print, and better men than he 
might be forgiven for not having accomplished this tire¬ 
some duty without some awkward grimaces on the road. 
The article was a decided failure. There was, of course, a 
chuckle of delight among authorlings, and a yelp of 
applause from criticlings. Beyond this nothing was 
effected. The reviewer is, we believe, still alive, and from 


62 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


time to time employs himself in making mouths at dis¬ 
tinguished men. His style is peculiarly his own :— 


‘ For Appius reddens at each word you speak, 
And stares tremendous with a threatening eye, 
Like some fierce tyrant in old tapestry.’ ” 


CHAPTER IV. 


THE MEMBER FOR CALNE. 

The commencement of the session of 1820, found Mr. 
Peel in very much the same position as that in which he 
had placed Mr. Canning. It had been his misfortune to 
convert the friendship of his supporters into decided 
hostility. By his alliance with the Whigs in the cause of 
emancipation he had gained ample power to effect his 
measures, but he could only retain it by a reconciliation 
with his old friends or his old enemies. The remnant of 
the followers of Mr. Canning, of whom Mr. Huskisson 
was the most prominent member, might have helped to 
consolidate the Ministry; and the Duke of Wellington, 
who had expelled him from the Cabinet, declaring that 
“ there should be no mistake,” had probably found that 
the mistake had been on his own side. It became neces¬ 
sary to propitiate the Whigs, in the same way that 
Canning had propitiated them,—by a distribution of offices. 
That the experiment eventually failed is probably owing 
to the fact, that the offices were dealt out with too 
niggard a hand. Among the appointments then made 
was that of the Bight Honourable James Abercrombie to 
be Chief Baron of the Exchequer in Scotland. Properly 
this preferment ought to have fallen to the Lord Advocate 
of Scotland, instead of to a retired member of the English 
Chancery bar. This promotion made a vacancy in the 


64 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

borough of Caine, for which Mr. Abercrombie had sat as 
the nominee of the Marquis of Lansdowne. In the 
month of February he was succeeded by Mr. Thomas 
Babington Macaulay. Though he owed his seat to the 
Bowood influence, he entered the House only tacitly 
pledged to his party, and otherwise a perfectly free 
agent. 

When he had been a member of the House for about 
six weeks, he made his maiden speech, April 5th, 1830, 
on the question of the admission of the Jews—according 
to Mr. Disraeli, the peerage of the human race—into 
Parliament. Sir James Mackintosh, who succeeded him, 
declared the speech in every respect worthy of the name 
he bore. It is indeed an admirable maiden speech. 
There was no attempt to take the House of Commons by 
storm; a body that rarely submits to such an operation. 
Perhaps Pitt and single-speech Hamilton have alone fully 
succeeded this way; the attempt was fatal to Praed, to 
Sir Daniel Sandford, and almost to Disraeli. The speech 
was clear and forcible; a clearness which was almost 
brilliancy, a force that was almost eloquence, and which 
grew to be such when he became better acquainted with 
the temper of the House and his own powers. Leave was 
given to introduce the bill by a majority of 18, but it 
was subsequently lost on the second reading. About 
this time a beginning was made of fresh legislation with 
respect to India; and a Parliamentary Committee was 
appointed to consider the whole subject of the charter and 
jurisdiction of the East India Company. 

The next occasion on which the new member addressed 
the House is only to be found in the journals of the day. 
Sir Bobert Peel had brought in a bill to circumscribe the 
penalties of death in cases of forgery; he proposed to 


DEBATE ON FORGERY. 


65 


abolish it in all cases where due caution had not been 
exercised by the person injured ; retaining it in the cases 
of wills and all papers representing money. The fol¬ 
lowers of Sir Samuel Romilly did not believe that the 
Bill went far enough. Sir James Macintosh proposed 
as an amendment that the words, “ shall suffer death,” be 
left out in all except will cases; a point which, contrary 
to his own opinion, he yielded to the wishes of his friends. 
The amendment was seconded by Fowell Buxton. Mr. 
Brougham and Mr. Macaulay spoke in favour of the 
amendment; and the Solicitor General (the present Lord 
St. Leonards) and Sir Charles Wetherell against it. The 
House divided, and there appeared—- 

For the Amendment . . . 151 

Against it.138 

Majority . . .13 

Sir Robert Peel then withdrew from all opposition, and 
flung all the responsibility upon Sir James Macintosh. 
He had done his duty, and he hoped the House at no 
distant day would have reason to repent their decision. 
The Lords subsequently restored the Bill to its original 
state, and it was sent back so late in the session, that 
it was accepted without demur to their alterations. 
Macaulay’s speech was rather brief, but able and em¬ 
phatic. The great point he urged was the uncertainty of 
the penalty being executed. If any one should urge that 
an article in the Edinburgh Review about this time on the 
subject was by him, I should not be able to contradict 
the notion. I quote from Hansard some extracts from 
this speech :— 

“ He admitted that, for certain cases of forgery, involv¬ 
ing breach of trust, and the ruin of widows and orphans, 



66 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


no punishment was too severe. They might deserve 
roasting at a slow fire, but such individual cases ought 
not to determine the Legislature to make a general law; 
neither would it he right with compassionating senti¬ 
mentality to follow the criminal into the condemned cell, 
and see him horror-stricken at the fate which awaited 
him. That would be as improper a basis for legislation, 
as pointing to an individual who had beggared numerous 
families and defrauded all who trusted him. The vote he 
should that night give would be founded on no such 
grounds, but upon the conviction that if they meant the 
law to be executed, they must mitigate the severity of it. 
They could not punish forgery with death, and it was 
vain for them to flatter themselves they could. They 
might bring in a paper called a Bill; they might read 
it three times; they might send it up to the Lords, 
who might agree to it, and read it three times also; it 
might receive the Loyal assent; it might be sent to the 
King’s printer, and be placed among the rest of the 
statutes—and then they might say that they had made a 
law which would punish forgery by death. But if they 
said so, they deceived themselves; for they would onlv 
have added another to the number of those pages in our 
statute-book which were the scorn of criminals and the 
disgust of sober men—mere abortions of laws, which were 
dead before they were born. To make it a law they must 
get it acted upon; but this, it had been seen, was beyond 
their power. In the first place, men would not prosecute. 
It had been said that the Bank of England always prose¬ 
cuted, and doubtless that was true; but then the Bank 
was a corporation; and Lord Coke told them a corpo¬ 
ration had no soul. The question was, would individual 
members of society prosecute? Experience had shown 


DEBATE ON FORGERY. 


67 


they would not. . . . The learned Solicitor-General 

told them, that with regard to the punishment of death, 
the diminution of the chances did not diminish the fear; 
but allow him to tell the learned gentleman, that the 
chance even of death might be reduced so low that the 
fear of death might have very little weight. Besides, 
men saw these chances differently. For instance, there 
was scarcely a gentleman in Westminster Hall who would 
refuse to go out as a judge to Bombay; and a man who 
could not muster courage enough to fight a duel, would 
forge you half a dozen acceptances in no time. Yet the 
climate of Bombay had been fatal to very many; and 
there was more danger in forging than in fighting duels. 
But the objection to the law was, as he had before stated, 
that it could not be executed. The judges, the juries, 
the witnesses, ay, and even the Secretary of State, too, 
were against it; for whatever ground the Secretary of 
State might take in that House, it had been shown that 
only one-ninth of the persons convicted had been exe¬ 
cuted. And yet this was an argument in favour of the 
existing law both by the Bight Hon. Gentleman and with 
the learned Solicitor-General. The latter, too, thought 
that the ignominy of the punishment was not without 
most salutary effects; but when the drop fell, amidst 
cries of ‘ shame 3 and ‘ murder/ all horror of the crime, 
all dread of the punishment, was lost in disgust at the 
exhibition ” 

The question of Parliamentary Beform, which from the 
time of the war with the American colonies had been 
before the public, now came into prominent notice. It 
was no longer a theme for pot-houses, and the ambition 
of Badicals, but w r as discussed in clubs and drawing¬ 
rooms by nobles and statesmen. A number of plans 


68 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY”. 

were propounded in the House, from the triple propo¬ 
sition of Lord John Russell to the triple proposition of 
O’Connell. The later proposition was universal suffrage, 
vote by ballot, triennial parliaments. Lord John Russell 
moved for a bill to give members to Birmingham, Man¬ 
chester, and Leeds. Mr. Huskisson spoke on the part of 
the moderate Tories what proved his last words respecting 
Parliamentary Reform. He would gladly support such a 
measure, but was opposed to any extensive change. The 
conduct of the Duke of Newcastle at this time in refer¬ 
ence to the Newark election gave great umbrage, and 
proved very useful to the Reformers. The Duke, being 
the owner of Crown lands that belted Newark, had such 
influence with the electors, that he was able to return 
Mr. Michael Thomas Sadler by a considerable majority 
over Mr. Serjeant AVilde. The Duke not only interfered 
in the election, but, notwithstanding the Act, could not 
understand that there was anything wrong in his inter¬ 
ference. He innocently asked, “ May 1 not do what I 
wish with my own?” words which were never allowed to 
drop during the whole period of the Reform agitation. 

On the morning of the 26th of June, at three o’clock, 
George IY. died. He was sitting up, and leaning on a 
page, exclaimed, “ O God ! this is death ! ” and so died 
from the rupture of a blood-vessel in the stomach. There 
had been the report of an amendment in his health, and 
the language of the bulletins had been extraordinarily 
deceptive. He was always getting better. Amid these 
accumulated betternesses, the nation was wondering why 
he was not well, when it heard that he was dead. It 
is said that the unhappy man insisted on seeing the 
bulletins, and the physicians were afraid to say the 
truth. In recalling his career—which History, in her 


DEATH OF GEORGE IV. 


69 


solemn office, will brand as selfishness and guilt—we 
should remember to how great an extent he was the 
creature of unhappy and unfortunate circumstances. 
From the chamber of the dead a contemporary record 
thus hurries us out into the broad life and roar of open 
day. It shows how little impression the frivolous king 
made upon his frivolous subjects. Moore writes in his 
diary, under June 26th:—“ Tempted out from my work 
by the fine day and the death of His Majesty, both of 
which events have set the whole town in motion. Never 
saw London so excited or so lively. Crowds everywhere, 
particularly in St. James's Street, from the proclamation 
of the new King being expected before the palace. The 
whole thing reminded me of a passage in an old 
comedy, * What makes him so merry ?' 1 Don't you 
see he's in mourning ? ’ Dined at the Lansdownes'; com¬ 
pany, Duke of Grafton, the Jerseys, the Morleys, the 
Vernons, Lord Chancellor, &c. Sat next the Lord Chan¬ 
cellor; much amused by his manner. Was laughing at 
the state of nervousness Scarlett had got into on the 
state of the press. Vernon told me that the first account 
he had of the King’s death in the morning was from 
Botham (Salt Hill), where Vernon and Lady Elizabeth 
slept; Botham saying to him, when he came down stairs, 
‘Well, sir, I have lost my neighbour! " 

When the King of England was thus called away, the 
King of France was also about to be beckoned from his 
throne. The Polignac tyranny had become unendurable. 
Paris rose in arms against the decrees that virtually 
abolished the Constitution by the abolition of freedom of 
the press, and the existing system of representation. At 
a time which the far-sighted Guizot had pointed out 
as fraught with perils to the Bourbons, Charles X. issued 


70 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

these infatuated ordinances. The troops of the line 
refused to act, and the Guards were forced to retire from 
Paris. Then came the Glorious Days, with their results— 
the elevation of Louis Philippe, and the final deposition 
of the Bourbons. Mr. Macaulay meditated an historical 
work on this remarkable period. The Quarterly speaks 
of being threatened (such threats are cheerfully borne) 
with a work on the subject. In one place it speaks of it 
as the Restoration of the Bourbons; and in the British 
Catalogue of Books it is put down under the title of 
Memoirs of the House of Bourbon, 2 vols., 12mo, 10s., 
Longman. A large portion of the MS. must have been 
written; and, if not destroyed, the public would be 
pleased indeed by such a valuable and important frag¬ 
ment. Lord J. Bussell wrote a book-pamphlet on the 
subject, which has been forgotten. 

The French Revolution affected every part of Europe. 
It was rapidly succeeded by a revolution in Belgium. 
The separation of Holland and Belgium was effected; 
the House of Orange was excluded; and there was to be 
a new King of the Netherlands. The excitement spread 
to England. It was believed that a nationality had only 
to rise, and it would obtain anything. The elections 
went everywhere against the Government. Mr. Brougham 
obtained his crowning political honour as member for 
Yorkshire; and a stern antipathy no longer existed 
against him on the side of the throne. The first duty 
of the new Parliament was to praise the new King and 
eulogise the past. The King is dead—long live the King ! 
Mr. Roebuck justly observes, that the language would 
have been the same if a philosophic Aurelius succeeded 
a pious Antoninus. The tide was strong against the 
ministry; and the only question was, when and how they 


THE KING DOES NOT DINE. 


71 


should fall. The Duke of Wellington was held up to the 
public as a Polignac or a Metternich. Mr. Brougham 
sought to transfer a measure of this obloquy to Sir 
Robert Peel. “ Him I accuse not/' he exclaimed in the 
House; but pointing to the Treasury Bench, “ I accuse 
you—I accuse his flatterers—those mean, fawniug para¬ 
sites.” At once rose Sir Robert Peel, and in grave, 
indignant tones, demanded if the honourable and learned 
gentleman accused him of being a fawning parasite. Mr. 
Brougham at once saw his mistake, and retracted. 
With great coolness and address, Sir Robert said that the 
retractation was hardly sufficient, and virtually dictated 
a complete one, which Mr. Brougham most properly 
adopted. 

Brougham, however, designed to slay the ministry. 
He had given notice on the first night, that in a fortnight 
he should bring forward the question of Parliamentary 
Reform. Now occurred the memorable episode of Lord 
Mayor’s Day—a subject which ever afterwards was most 
exasperating to the Duke. As is customary on a new 
reign, the King was to dine at the Mansion House with 
Alderman Key, the Lord Mayor elect; and the Alderman 
sent a letter to the Duke, warning him of “ desperate 
characters,” and suggesting a strong military force. The 
next night Sir Robert Peel sent a letter to the Lord 
Mayor, stating that their majesties declined visiting the 
City on the 9th. The utmost panic and consternation 
ensued. The Funds fell three per cent. There was to 
be a revolution, and worse than a revolution—a sack. 
The citizens lined their shutters with iron plates, and 
renewed their bolts and bars. The impression was created 
on the Continent that the King of England could not 
dine in public in his own city in safety. The Duke, 


7*2 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

however, thought there was reason to apprehend an 
attempted revolution; and the flaming ricks which that 
autumn had illuminated the nightly heavens, did not 
tend to re-assure him. Severe blame was, however, thrown 
on the ministers, and hastened their end. Not, however, 
on Mr. Brougham’s grand motion, but by a side-wind 
they ultimately fell. On a motion by Sir Henry Parnell 
in reference to the Civil List, they were left in a minority 
of 29—the numbers being 233 to 204—and went out. 

Earl Grey, to whom descended as an heir-loom the 
inheritance of Whig political interest, was Premier. The 
only other appointment which we need mention is that 
of Mr. Brougham to be Lord Chancellor. It was an 
appointment that caused great scandal. “ It is a pity 
Lord Brougham does not know a little law, for then he 
would have a smattering of everything.” Probably Lord 
Brougham subsequently regretted the appointment more 
than anybody else. On the motion for a new writ, Mr. 
Croker made some remarks on Brougham’s statement 
that no change in the Government could affect him. Mr. 
Macaulay then involved himself in his first encounter 
with Mr. Croker—an hostility that afterwards became 
memorable. He rose to the rescue of Brougham. He 
made a tart allusion to the same seat being occupied by 
a Croker and a Brougham, <f a seat rendered classic by 
eloquence,” &c. “ Was that a time for a member of the 

House, who would sooner have burned his tongue out 
than have made such an attack in the presence of that 
noble person, thus to attack him behind his back ? ” 

Loud cries of f< Order, order! ” here interrupted the 
excited speaker. And one honourable member was heard 
to say, that he had not been afraid of the member for 
Yorkshire. 


CLOSE OF FIRST YEAR IN PARLIAMENT. 73 

Macaulay begged pardon, and said that men who would 
have shrunk from an encounter when the noble lord was 
present, attacked him when absent. 

Mr. Croker, in his reply, very justly said, that he had 
never so shrunk; and that it had so happened, that on 
one occasion he had been opposed to Lord Brougham 
with greater warmth than ever to any other man in the 
world. 

On one other occasion this session, Mr. Macaulay spoke. 
This was on the 17th of December, on the West India 
Bill. He talked a good deal about the periodicals and 
people; said that he attached more importance to the 
periodicals, because he was connected with them. 

On the 23rd of December both Houses adjourned till 
the end of February, to enable ministers to prepare their 
measures. The year closed amid much discomfort and 
excitement. To add to the gloom of the winter season, 
the Asiatic cholera now reached our shores, alarming 
men's hearts with its new and terrible visitation. 

This was the close of Mr. Macaulay's first year in 
Parliament. He might look back upon it with feelings 
of satisfaction. Though he had not achieved a great 
reputation, he had made himself known as a clever, and 
was regarded as a rising, man. He had pleased his father 
and his father's friends by his advocacy of the anti-slavery 
cause, and of the mitigation of the penal laws. He had 
warmly defended his friend the Chancellor. He had 
done good service to his party by upholding the Jewish 
claims. He had made solid way in the House, and pre¬ 
pared them for the splendid and remarkable career of the 
ensuing session, w r hen he leaped to the position of being 
one of the greatest orators in the House or the country. 

On the 1st of March, 1831, Lord John Bussell moved 


74 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

for leave to bring in his Bill. The secrets of its details 
were preserved with singular circumstances of mystery 
and fascination to the very last. It is curious how acci¬ 
dents have factitiously invested Earl Bussell with the 
paternity of the Beform Bill. His lordship was not even 
a member of the Cabinet. In all its details the measure 
was Earl Grey's. Lord John had not much more to do 
with it than Mr. Macaulay himself. The scene was very 
animated, “ more so," says the Times, “ than had been 
known for many years." While good Sir Harry Inglis 
made his long speech, members were excited by discuss¬ 
ing it in the lobbies and passages. The second night of 
the debate Macaulay spoke and delivered a speech, which, 
differing from all others, has become classic, and will be 
remembered as long as the English language lasts. At 
the end of its report, the Times says, “We regret that 
the above account presents but a very imperfect outline 
of the honourable member's speech. The unexampled 
rapidity with which the greater part was delivered, renders 
a more detailed account absolutely impossible." Members 
of all opinions generously vied in the praise of the eloquent 
orator. The same evening, great speeches were made by 
the Attorney-General (the late Lord Denman), and the 
present Earl of Carlisle. Many of the speeches of this 
memorable debate seem to run in braces, and are very 
interesting. Thus Sir Bobert Peel follows Lord Pal¬ 
merston, and Mr. Croker follows the Lord Advocate, Mr. 
Jeffrey,—the Quarterly Review succeeds the 'Edinburgh . 
After this time, however, Mr. Croker always seems to 
have felt it his duty to follow Mr. Macaulay, and between 
the two there were sundry passages-at-arms. Mr. Croker 
insisted that the retention of Caine (Macaulay’s) on the list 
of boroughs was a Whig job, for the Lansdowne interest. 


SIR ROBERT PEEL ON “ REFORM.” 


75 


We give a reply of Sir Robert Peel to one of bis 
famous Reform speeches. 

SIR ROBERT PEEL. 

“ I rejoice that I did not follow last night the learned 
member for Caine—that I was not betrayed by the just 
provocation, to bitter and acrimonious reply which that 
speech afforded—a speech commencing with pious exhorta¬ 
tions and forbearance, with solemn inculcations of the 
necessity of temper and moderation, of the oblivion of 
all party interests and party resentments,—but ending 
with a bitter philippic against the late Administration, 
and taunts and insinuations directed against individuals 
who formed a part of it. Let the honourable gentleman 
select some other occasion for preferring his charges, and 
he shall then have our defence, and we shall expect some 
better proof than his mere unsupported assertion, that 
we have been the enemies of public liberty. I never 
made frothy declamations about liberty, but I deny that 
any act of mine violated that liberty, or diminished the 
security of that liberty and of its continued enjoyment. 
Why did the honourable gentleman, after preaching on the 
necessity of suspending, at least for the present, all party 
animosities, and enlarging and exalting our minds to a level 
with the great question of domestic Reform—why did he 
select this occasion to institute an invidious comparison, 
between the failure of the late and the success of the present 
Administration ? All was confusion and discord under the 
late Government. I shall cordially rejoice if the honourable 
gentleman can prove that his compliments to the present 
are well merited. Under the present, says the honourable 
gentleman, there is universal tranquillity and content¬ 
ment. Painful as the contrast might be, in some respects, 


76 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


to the late Government, in the absence of that proof I 
protest against the justice of the learned gentleman's 
condemnation. This and this only will I state in my own 
vindication, that during the short period of the last six 
weeks since the boasted restoration of tranquillity, long 
after the day-star of Reform had glittered above the 
horizon, many more lives of the king’s subjects have been 
sacrificed in conflicts with the military and police, than 
were lost during the whole period of six years in which 
I presided over the Home Department. I blame not the 
military nor the police. I blame not those w r ho were 
compelled by necessity to resort to the last dreadful 
means of protecting the public peace, but it is too much 
to expect with these undeniable and notorious facts, that 
I should acquiesce either in the honourable gentleman’s 
satire or his praise. Ireland, too ! the honourable gentle¬ 
man takes credit for the restoration of peace in Ireland. 
Let him wait a few short days and he will hear a pro¬ 
posal, founded on the disturbed state of Ireland, for 
increasing the powers of the Government and adding to 
the severity of the law. He may then discover that when 
he shall be next appointed to chaunt the hymn of triumph 
over the predecessors of the present Government, it will 
be well for him to omit the strophe which celebrates the 
tranquillity of Ireland." 

After the seven nights' debate, leave was given to bring 
in the Bill by a majority of one. People in the country 
absurdly thought that this was a triumph, and began to 
celebrate it. The formal defeat came soon afterwards, 
on General Gascoigne's motion. The King was persuaded 
to dissolve Parliament. Unparalleled scenes were then 
witnessed in the two Houses. Noble lords were shaking 


“reform” sights and sounds. 77 

tlieir fists in each other’s faces, and Sir Robert Peel had 
to be dragged down to his seat by his friends. His 
sentences w r ere lost amid the boom of the cannon sound¬ 
ing to announce the royal arrival. 

The cry throughout the nation was, “ The Bill, the 
whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill! ” It is scarcely a 
novelist’s caricature to call it the Bill for giving every¬ 
body everything; the popular idea was not very much 
different. The obnoxious Gascoigne of course lost his 
seat, and in very good company. On the 4th of July, 
the second reading of the Bill was moved. In the course 
of the debate Macaulay made another splendid speech. 
“ It is impossible,” on one occasion, said a political 
opponent, Sir Charles Wetlierell, “for the honourable 
member to make a speech that will not elicit the cheers 
of all around him.” The Bill afterwards passed through 
committee. The Bill was read a third time singularly 
enough, without any discussion, in consequence of no one 
rising till the Speaker had put the question. On the 
question, “ that the Bill do now pass,” Macaulay, who had 
now gained a splendid reputation all over the country, 
made another great speech. The last night of the debate 
the House was surrounded by crowds, who burst into 
cheers which were reverberated through London again 
and again till morning. The news went flying every¬ 
where into the country. The people believed that the 
age of gold was come again. Everywhere bells were 
pealing, and banners flying, and the summer air was filled 
with music and shouts of rejoicing. 

A great topic of Macaulay’s speech was adjuring the 
House of Lords that they should not yield, as yielded the 
nobles of France, and brought ruin on their country. 
Mr. Croker, in a speech of great power and ability. 


78 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


combated tbe notion, and showed that the French nobles 
did yield, and so did bring down the ruin. As it is 
instructive to review each side of the question, and there 
is really a danger that Macaulay may carry us by storm, 
we give an extract from Mr. CrokeEs speech, corrected 
for Hansard by himself. 

“ Did the nobles, on that vital occasion, show that blind 
and inflexible obstinacy which the learned gentleman has 
attributed to them ? Did they even display the decent 
dignity of a deliberative council ? Did they, indeed, 
exhibit a cold and contemptuous apathy to the feelings 
of the people, or did they not rather evince a morbid and 
dishonourable sensibility to every turn of the popular 
passion? Was it, sir, in fact, their high and haughty 
resistance, or was it, alas ! their deplorable pusillanimity, 
that overthrew their unhappy country? No inconsider- 
able portion of the nobility joined the Tiers Etat at 
once, and with headlong and heedless alacrity; the rest 
delayed for a short interval—a few days only—of doubt 
and dismay; but after that short pause, those whom the 
learned gentleman called proud and obstinate bigots to 
privilege and power, abandoned their most undoubted 
privilege and most effective power, and were seen to 
march in melancholy to the funeral of the monarchy, 
with a fallacious appearance of freedom, but bound in 
reality with the invisible shackles of intimidation—goaded 
by the invectives of a treasonable and rancorous press— 
and insulted and menaced and all but driven by the 
bloody hands of an infuriated populace. But was this 
all? Did the sacrifice end here? When the Tiers Etat 
had achieved their first triumph, and when at last the 
three estates were collected in the ‘ National Assemblv,’ 
were the nobility deaf to the calls of the people, or did they 


BISHOPS THROW OUT THE BILL. 


79 


cling with indecent tenacity to even their most innocent 
privileges ? The learned gentleman has appealed to 
the decayed ceilings and tarnished walls of hotels and 
chateaux where ancient ancestry had depicted its insignia, 
but which now exhibit the faded and tattered remnants 
of fallen greatness. Does the learned gentleman not 
know that it was the rash hands of the nobility itself 
which struck the first blow against these aristocratical 

decorations ?.And in that celebrated night which 

has been called f tlie night of sacrifices,’ but which is 
better known by the more appropriate title of f the night 
of insanity/ when the whole frame and order of civilised 
society was overthrown in the delirium of popular com¬ 
pliance, who led the way in the giddy orgies of destruction ? 
Alas ! the nobility! Who was it that, in that portentous 
night, offered, as he said, on the altar of his country the 
sacrifice of the privileges of his order ? A Montmorency ! 
Who proposed the abolition of all feudal and signorial 
rights? A Noailles ! And what followed? We turn 
over a page or two of this eventful history, and we find 
the Montmorencies in exile, and the Noailles on the 
scaffold.” 

In the House of Lords the Bill was thrown out on the 
second reading by twenty-one, the number of the bishops 
who voted against it. Some of the papers came out in 
black, and aprons and hats were not safe in the streets. 
Then came a dreadful time. Bristol was fired. It was 
then as much a time of civil war, as when Prince Bupert 
and the Parliamentary troops met each other there. 
There were riots at Derby and Nottingham. Nottingham 
Castle, the centre of so many historical associations, was 
burned down, though nothing could impair the beauty of 
the site. Then came the suicide of Colonel Brereton, the 



80 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


strong arm of the law in putting down disorder, and the 
fearful scenes at the assize courts. 

After the Bill was thrown out. Lord Ebriugton brought 
forward his resolution expressing confidence in ministers. 
Mr. Macaulay spoke in a vein of impassioned eloquence, 
but laid himself open to a charge from Mr. Croker, which 
subsequent events seemed to justify—of using dangerous 
language. To give a brief quotation. The ministers had 
advised the King to create a large number of peers; and 
being refused, they had tended their resignations. 

“ He could not but admire the great talents and dis¬ 
tinguished eloquence of the learned member, but at the 
same time he must say, that he could not call his speech 
of that night anything but a piece of splendid mischief. 
He felt—who indeed could be blind to the fact ?—that 
these were times of danger; but he believed, with the 
honourable member for Middlesex, that the tranquillity 
of the country would be preserved, and that the people 
would be peaceable, and submit to the law, without the 
intervention either of the sword or of violent legislative 
measures; but then he could not conceal from himself 
that, with the best disposition in the world, one unhappy 
spark might create an explosion; and he must own that 
he had seldom heard a speech more likely, if it should 
reach the populace, to produce that lamentable effect, 
than the fervid declamation of the learned member for 
Caine.” 

The Houses had been prorogued. After the proro¬ 
gation, for the third time Lord John Russell brought 
forward the Reform Bill. The debate on the second 
reading began on Friday, the 16th of December, and 
continued till the morning of Sunday, the 19th. On this 
occasion he had a fierce contest with Sir Robert Peel. 


SPEECH OF SIP ROBERT PEEL. 


81 


We give Sir Robert Peeks reply. We also give one more 
quotation from the Nodes Ambrosiance. We now look 
upon these times as a matter of history; but such quota¬ 
tions will assist us in realising the vivid feelings and 
passions of the last generation. 

i( Sir Robert Peel said the speech of the learned mem¬ 
ber for Caine—who, for the fourth time, had thought it 
desirable to introduce topics unconnected with the merits 
of the question, and who had addressed himself in a 
manner purely personal to him—compelled him to adopt 
a different course; for he should be unworthy of the 
situation which he held in that House, if he permitted 
the debate to close without reference to those topics. 
He thought that the learned gentleman, having already in 
the three speeches he had made in favour of Reform 
taunted him on the subject of the Catholic question, 
might have left that matter at rest. But the learned 
gentleman again returned to the charge, bursting with all 
the f sweltering venom ’ which had been collecting during 
the days and nights that had passed since the last attack. 

. . The learned gentleman's charge amounted to a 

charge of gross and corrupt apostacy. He accused him 
(Sir Robert Peel) of having brought forward, first the 
Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, and, secondly, 
the Roman Catholic Relief Bill, not from a sense of public 
dutv, but from the mere love of the power or emolu- 
ments of office, and the desire to appropriate to himself 
the credit due to others. He had long been silent under 
these charges : in the first place, because he did not think 
that the time had come when he could properly make the 
necessary disclosures; and, in the second place, because 
he was conscious of having acted from pure motives, and 
because he felt assured that the time must come when 


82 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


those motives would be justly appreciated. . . . The 

honourable gentleman had said, ( How is it that we can have 
eyes and not see, ears and not hear, legs and not walk ? 
How is it that all our senses do not convince us that 
Reform must be conceded Would he ask the same 
question of the Marquis of Lansdowne, who had eyes and 
ears and legs, but who had neither seen, heard, nor 
walked, having for years opposed Parliamentary Reform. 
The honourable gentleman was very severe on all doubt 
and indecision in matters of public concern. He had 
been complimented by the learned gentleman for having 
on the first night of the discussion sung his palinode.” 

Mr. Macaulay : “ I did not mention you; the term was 
directed to the right honourable ex-Secretary of the 
Admiralty. All that was meant was, that the right 
honourable Baronet's party took the whole credit to them¬ 
selves of measures for the improvement of our systems of 
jurisprudence, commercial laws and foreign policy, which 
had been forced on their reluctant conviction by the 
party now in office.” . . . 

Sir R. Peel. “ How was it, then, that the honourable 
and learned gentleman was himself still undecided on that 
important point, the ballot ? How did it happen that, 
like a certain animal (to which he meant by no means to 
compare him) between two bundles of hay, the honourable 
and learned gentleman remained still balancing, and un¬ 
able to decide between two series of arguments.” 

The following is the extract from the Nodes Ambro- 
siance :— 

“ Tickler. You will laugh when I say it, but do you 
know it as a plain simple fact, that this Tom Macaulay 
put me much more in mind of the Jeffrey of ten years 
ago, than did the Jeffrey ipsissimus of ho die. 


TICKLER ON “TOM MACAULAY.” 


83 


“ North. You pay Mr. Macaulay a high, compliment— 
the highest, I think, he has ever met with. 

“ Tickler. Not quite; for it is the fashion, among a 
certain coterie at least, to talk of him as 1 the Burke of 
our age/ However, he is certainly a very clever fellow; 
the cleverest declaimer by far on that side of the House; 
and had he happened to be a somebody, we should no 
doubt have seen Tom in high places ere now. 

“ North. A son of old Zachary, I believe ? Is he like 
the papa ? 

“ Tickler. So I have heard. But I never saw the 
senior, of whom some poetical planter has so unjustifiably 
sung :— 

‘ How smooth, persuasive, plausible, and glib, 

From holy lips has dropped the precious fib.’ 

The son is an ugly, cross-made, splay-footed, shapeless 
little dumpling of a fellow, with a featureless face, too— 
except, indeed, a good expansive forehead—sleek puri¬ 
tanical sandy hair, large glimmering eyes, and a mouth 
from ear to ear. He has a lisp and a burr, moreover, and 
speaks thickly and huskily for several minutes before he 
gets into the swing of his discourse; but, after that, 
nothing can be more dazzling than his execution. What 
he says is substantially, of course, mere stuff and non¬ 
sense ; but it is so well worded, and so volubly and 
forcibly delivered—there is such an endless string of 
epigrams and antitheses—such a flashing of epithets, such 
an accumulation of images and the voice is so trumpet¬ 
like, and the action so grotesquely emphatic, that you 
might hear a pin drop in the House. Manners Sutton 
himself listens. It is obvious that he has got the main 
parts at least by heart; but for this I gave him the more 
praise and glory. Altogether, the impression on my 


84 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


mind was very mucli beyond what I had been prepared 
for; so much so, that I can honestly and sincerely say I 
felt for his situation most deeply when Peel was skinning 
him alive the next evening, and the sweat of agony kept 
pouring down his well-bronzed cheeks under the merciless 
infliction. 

“North. The feeling does credit to your heart. Have 
you read his article on Byron in the Edinburgh ? 

“ Tickler. Not I. I wonder how many articles on 
Byron we are expected to read. Is there to be no end 
to this jabber—this brainless botheration about a case as 
plain as a pikestaff, and that lies too in a nut-shell ? 

“ North. Macaulay's paper is, however, an exceedingly 
clever thing, and you ought to glance your eye over it. 
The Edinburgh has had nothing so good these many 
years past. In fact, it reads very like a paper in one of 
their early numbers; much the same sort of excellences; 
the smart, rapid, popgun impertinence ; the brisk, airy, 
new-set truisms, mingled with cold, shallow, heartless 
sophistries; the conceited phlegm, the affected abrupt¬ 
ness, the unconscious audacity of impudence; the whole 
lively and amusing, and much commended among the 
dowagers.” 

We now take a more favourable side, and certainly a 
more impartial one. It appeared in an American paper. 

“ Last night I went to the House of Commons for a 
second time, to hear a continuance of the adjourned 
debate on the final reading of the Reform Bill, and the 
last great question, ( That the Bill do now pass/ At five 
o’clock the question came up. The speakers who occupied 
the floor successively till eight were dull. But from eight 
till one in the morning we had an uninterrupted .torrent 
of Parliamentary eloquence, rarely equalled in that House 


AMERICAN SKETCH OF MACAULAY. 


85 


or any other. Excitement in a British House of Com¬ 
mons is a contagion. Let one man get on fire, and he sets 
all on fire about him. Much, to he sure, was expected on 
the last reading of the Bill in that body: but one night 
had been exhausted and little heat—three hours of the 
second had passed away and all still cool and dull. 
Spectators grew restive, and members scattered away to 
lounge, and eat, and smoke, and talk, in the numerous 
apartments of that huge and ungainly pile of buildings. 
One would not have thought there were so many of them 
about. But at eight o^clock a little man of small voice, 
affected utterance, clipping his words, and hissing like a 
serpent, succeeded in gaining the floor. On this great 
question in its early stages, when one member sits down as 
many as twenty jump up, simultaneously claiming to be 
heard; and I know not by what rule the Chair decides in 
favour of one of the many. But after a few moments of 
clamorous calling to order the question gets settled, and 
the favoured one goes on to deliver himself of his preme¬ 
ditated impromptus and extemporaneous elaborations. 
The little man as I said got the floor. f Mr. Macaulay, Mr. 
Macaulay! ’ went quick around among the spectators, in 
a low but animated voice, evidently showing he was wel¬ 
comed. Instantly the House and the side galleries filled 
with members; no one could tell where they came from, 
but they had evidently been resting, in abeyance to the 
quickest summons. In five minutes the whole House 
w 7 as in attendance and seated, and it was indeed a pretty 
sight—they were literally wedged in, the seats being con¬ 
tinuous benches, so that doubtless their persons suffered 
much from compression against each other. The House 
was still for the first time in the evening, and each fixed 
his eye on the little man, Thomas Babington Macaulay. 


86 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOPvD MACAULAY. 


And surely I thought them very simple to be so attracted 
by so uncompromising a beginning, and utterly perverted 
in taste to be able even to endure such affected, intolerable 
elocution. The thoughts, however, and their combinations 
soon began to indicate a mind beyond the common level. 
The vices of elocution I began to overlook myself as every 
sentence he uttered struck up new light around the 
mighty theme. That which had no interest in the mouth 
of others, I now began to look upon as worthy of regard. 
Now a spark, now a gleam, and now a stream of light 
would blaze away. * Hear, hear ! ; but soon hushed for 
the desire to hear. And vet with all the interest of all 
the preparations making for an argument, of the masterly 
connection and disposition of premises, I could not soon 
be reconciled to the appearance of affectation in his modes 
of speech, and that intolerable frightful hissing withal. 
Fortunately, however, these spasmodic symptoms gradually 
wore off as the fire of argument kindled up his soul, and 
the more proper shapes of human speech by equal degrees 
formed upon his tongue and flowed from his lips. In 
fifteen minutes he had wrapped himself in the Reform 
Bill as in a mantle, and thrown its brilliant and attractive 
forms around him in the most graceful and befitting 
forms, and himself stood up thus invested, challenging 
and receiving universal admiration. I will not dare to 
quote a single sentence, nor give an example of his rea¬ 
soning. Barrow’s f Mirror of Parliament ’ will doubtless 
send that speech down to posterity in its own simple and 
proper form ; and if the world does not accord to it the 
praise of one of the most brilliant specimens of Parlia¬ 
mentary eloquence, as well as one of the fairest structures 
of logic, I will consent to be called an enthusiast in this 
instance, and will be slow to give my opinion again. It 


INTERREGNUM. 


87 


was a perfect triumph, and all felt it to be such. Never 
did Bonaparte gain a field of battle in a style more bril¬ 
liant, or with a suddenness more astounding to his enemies. 
Even the Opposition joined in the roar of applause, 
meaning it doubtless only for the splendid talents of the 
man. It was impossible not to feel that the Bill would 
pass—must pass; that even the House of Lords could 
not, would not dare to arrest it. I did not measure the 
time. I never thought of it till it was too late. He pro¬ 
bably spoke about forty-five minutes, but it did not seem 
half that. Besides the frequent interruption of applause, 
when Mr. Macaulay sat down the House rung for many 
minutes with peal on peal of approbation, as if they could 
never be satisfied.” 

Again the Bill passed through the House, and there was 
another speech by Macaulay on the third reading, March 19, 
1832. There was a grand debate in the House of Lords 
from the 9th to the 13th of April. On the 14th, through¬ 
out the whole of the livelong night, the keen debate went 
on among heated and haggard men, till the grey light 
broke in the east; till the first ray of sunrise shot full 
into the House; till the broad daylight settled over all. 
Strangers had waited for twelve hours without food or 
sleep. It was a quarter past seven when the House ad¬ 
journed. The Beform Bill was passed by a majority of 
nine. 

In Committee, by a majority of thirty-five, the Preform 
Bill was virtually defeated. The Cabinet demanded a new 
creation of Peers. The Prime Minister and the Lord 
Chancellor brought the demand to Windsor. The King 
wept in refusing, but refused. The Cabinet resigned. 
Lord Ebrington again brought forward a similar motion, 
and Macaulay again made a similar speech. For nine 


88 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


days the nation was without a Government. The 
country exhibited signs that not remotely indicated civil 
w r ar. The Duke of Wellington was unable to form a 
Ministry. It was announced by Lord Althorp that the 
King was again in communication with him and his col¬ 
leagues. The Conservative Lords, afraid of being swamped 
by a large creation, withdrew from opposition, and on the 
7th of June that Reform Bill became law—which Ma¬ 
caulay, its most eloquent advocate, to use his own touching 
words, fondly hoped “ would bind up the hearts of a di¬ 
vided people.” 


CHAPTER V. 


THE ELECTION FOR LEEDS. 

The election for Leeds is in many respects unique in 
the history of elections. Macaulay has himself pointed 
out what was in several respects the unparalleled nature of 
the contest. Ever since the early part of the year 1820, 
when Lord John Russell brought forward a measure 
that should confer members on Leeds as well as Birming¬ 
ham and Manchester, the minds of the good people there 
had been busy with the notion of the election, and they 
were prepared to throw themselves into any contest that 
might arise, with an amount of Yorkshire vigour and 
earnestness proportionate to their long deprivation of 
constitutional rights. So violently were these election 
proceedings carried on, that Macaulay once said that the 
impression upon his mind was that Leeds was always in a 
storm. In the ordinary case of an election, the canvass¬ 
ing and official proceedings last for a few weeks, or at the 
most for a few months. In the case of Leeds, the excite¬ 
ment and bustle of the election was extended over nearly 
a year and a-half. This delay is accounted for by the 
various delays that took place in the passing of the 
Reform Bill. Whenever there was an adverse majority, 
the excitement perceptibly flagged. But when a dissolu¬ 
tion had resulted in the return of a Reforming Parlia¬ 
ment, or when it was clearly known that there would be 


90 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


a new creation of Peers, if the House of Lords would not 
yield to the popular pressure, the flame of civic strife once 
more hurst up brightly and fiercely. 

A certain writer has acutely pointed out that that por¬ 
tion of English history with which Englishmen are most 
connected, and which it most behoves them to know, is 
practically that with which they have the least acquaint¬ 
ance. With the history that is daily being evolved around 
us, we are all perforce acquainted. With the history that 
has been recorded for us in the works of great historians, 
all educated persons possess more or less knowledge. But 
the history of those times, when our venerable statesmen 
and politicians played their youthful part, is only im¬ 
perfectly and inaccurately understood. Such times are 
too near us to be classical: they are too far off to be 
familiar. Yet the history of the period of the Reform 
Bill ought especially to be studied by those, who would 
comprehend the present condition of the country in the 
light of historical antecedents. After the adjustment of 
the claims of the Roman Catholics, the question of the 
representation of the people became the grand exciting 
topic of the day, the great constitutional question of the 
times. If we except the agitation for the Repeal of the 
Corn-laws, since the time of the Reform Bill party-warfare 
has been concerned with no so great civic struggle. The 
Corn-law agitation was tame in comparison, and the recent 
attempts to revive the Reform movement have only been 
ludicrous parodies of the events of 1830-32. There is no 
doubt but the proximate cause of this excited feeling was 
the revolutionary movement in France and Belgium ; and 
in England, the clamour for Reform quite assumed a 
revolutionary character, and in one instance almost as¬ 
sumed the form of civil war. 


NEW BOROUGH OF LEEDS. 


91 


The leading men of the town of Leeds appear to have 
been honestly anxious that their new constituency should 
be worthily represented. In the first place, local claims 
were held to be paramount. It was soon agreed by the 
Liberals that Mr. John Marshall, a large manufacturer, 
should be their first candidate—the son, too, of one of their 
best known men. In the course of a week or two Mr. 
Macaulay’s friends began quietly to bestir themselves. A 
judicious feeler was flung out in the local organ. If they 
could only procure a clever man that would do them 
credit in Parliament, a man who had already made 
some figure there, wdio was so eminent that he might look 
to a popular seat, but yet not so very eminent that he 
would not be glad of the chance, that was the man above 
all other men whom Leeds would be extremely happy in 
receiving. Next week an article appeared, pointing out 
how very remarkably all the desired requisites were com¬ 
bined in Mr. Macaulay. The Leeds Political Union, one 
of the combinations then very common, approved of the 
choice, and after a very searching examination into the 
creed of the candidate, was prepared to do all it could for 
him. 

Even in that hour of their broken fortunes, the Tories 
were not without a hope that, by means of a coalition, they 
might succeed in securing one of the seats. They deter¬ 
mined to bring forward Mr. Michael Thomas Sadler, late 
member for Newark. This was the gentleman whose 
election, secured by the undue influence of the Duke of 
Newcastle, had caused so much remark at the time. The 
Whigs of course did not fail to turn this to the best 
advantage. Their conduct was rather unreasonable, and 
their opponents of course retorted. Mr. Sadler had suc¬ 
ceeded pretty fairly at the time in vindicating himself 


92 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


from the charge of sharing in the Duke of Newcastle’s 
unconstitutional proceedings. Besides, if he had been the 
nominee of the Duke of Newcastle, Macaulay had been 
the nominee of the Marquis of Lansdowne. Besides, 
Newark was a much more important place than Caine. 
Newark was to Caine very much what Leeds was to 
Newark. Caine had only about twenty or thirty electors. 
All the votes were dependent on the Marquis. The return¬ 
ing officer was his Lordship’s butler, and the chairman of 
the committee was his Lordship’s cook. So said the 
Tories. 

The contest was virtually between Mr. Macaulay and 
Mr. Sadler. The return of Mr. Marshall was compara¬ 
tively safe. Each side exaggerated its own strength, and 
absurdly underrated that of its opponent. Each side 
insisted that it engrossed all the respectability, and desig¬ 
nated the other as a rabble. Polite language was em¬ 
ployed to do as much harm as possible. They were 
prepared to like clever men, but now that Mr. Macaulay 
had come among them, they confessed they were very 
much disappointed, and could see nothing in him. On one 
occasion Macaulay inadvertently slipped the expression 
“the lower orders.” It was attempted to make great 
capital out of this. The creature of the Whig oligarchy 
had, for once, unwarily given utterance to his real senti¬ 
ments about the industrial classes. The whole notion was 
too absurd. I am reminded of an incident that occurred 
to me some time back. I was talking with an omnibus 
driver one day, and found that his mind was in a state of 
great dudgeon and disgust. On enquiry I found that he 
was thinking of giving notice. “ His master had called 
him the lower orders, and he was not going to be called 
the lower orders by any man.” 


ANTHOLOGY OF THE ELECTION. 


93 


It is very interesting to look over the old journals of 
the time when stage coaches were still running, when the 
modern leading article was almost unknown, when the 
Haymarket was still a market for hay. If one could believe 
all the opposite newspapers said of each other’s candidate, 
a pair of more worthless and degraded men never courted 
the sweet voices of the multitude. The refined spirit 
that glowed in the Eatanswill Gazette and Eatanswill 
Independent , seems to have animated the Intelligencer and 
the Mercury, published at Leeds. Mr. Macaulay was the 
creature of the Whig oligarchy. He and his relations 
fattened upon the vitals of the country. He was perfectly 
ready to sacrifice all principle for another place, at a few 
more hundreds a year. He was the despised hack of the 
ministry, and had to do all their coarse work. Again, he 
was a mere idler, who had a large salary for doing nothing 
all day long. His writings were a profusion of gaudy 
verbiage, which would be soon forgotten. On the other 
hand, his supporters talked of him as “ the superhuman 
member,” and used language respecting him which would 
scarcely befit a Milton and a Chatham combined. They 
represented Mr. Sadler as a peculiar mixture of the worst 
elements of the tyrant and the democrat. He was desirous 
of employing, toward the honest electors, the vilest means 
of corruption and intimidation. He would deaden their 
brains with gin, or beat them out with bludgeons. He 
would, at the same time, be prepared to trample upon 
honest substance, and to crush honest freedom. To call 
a man a liar was a common matter, and to hint that he 
was no gentleman was a matter of course. Probably, 
those who employed this language would, in after years, 
look over these old files of newspapers with considerable 
surprise, and some humiliation. How far they were 


94 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


mistaken in the exaggerated idea their political animosity 
had formed of Mr. Macaulay we all know. The invectives 
against Mr. Sadler were equally far removed from the 
truth. He was a man of honest aims, and of very con¬ 
siderable abilities. In an advanced old age he retained 
the respect and admiration of those who knew him, and 
his boundless exertions in favour of the poor factory 
children have mitigated an enormous mass of suffering, and 
have placed his name on the roll of our social benefactors. 

I shall not discuss the humours of an election which 
have been placed variously before the public, from the 
broad farce of Mr. Dickens, to the almost epic power with 
which such has been pourtrayed by Sir Edward Lytton in 
the striking concluding portion of Mij Novel. I should ob¬ 
serve, that here as well as in Ten Thousand a Year the 
imaginary elections belongto the same period as this election 
for Leeds, are tolerably accurate in details, and give a vivid 
idea of the elections of the last generation, which seem 
much more exciting than those of the present. At Leeds 
in all the traditional firceness raged the battle between 
the orange and the blue. There was an amusing incident 
at the outlying township at Bramley. The Whig candi¬ 
dates made a visit there, and a great row ensued. The 
quarrel was mainly between two rival bands of music. 
The Bramley people were indignant, not so much that a 
Whig band had come, as that the local band had not been 
employed. Mr. Macaulay’s band was ignominiouslv 
routed, and their musical instruments taken and broken. 
Many of these election scenes exhibit, on the part of Mr. 
Macaulay, a power of extemporising a speech, and a readi¬ 
ness and adroitness in reply, such as we should scarcelv 
have expected. During the time of this protracted con¬ 
test, the reputation of Mr. Macaulay was constantly 


LEEDS AND MACAULAY. 


95 


receiving splendid additions. Every now and then lie 
made one of his great speeches in the House, or wrote 
one of his famous articles in the Review, and in his Leeds 
organ both speech and article were duly quoted and 
lauded, and extracts made of all the complimentary things 
that were anywhere said about them. The Whigs of 
Leeds had certainly great reason to be proud of their 
candidate. And on his side, Mr. Macaulay, amid an 
amount of confusion and rancour that must have been 
extremely distasteful, remained faithful to Leeds, and 
though invitations from other constituencies were forwarded 
to him, and he might have been returned elsewhere with 
much less trouble, he never deviated from the path he 
had marked out for himself. 

Indeed, the whole impression left upon the mind by a 
full acquaintance with the details of this memorable 
election, is infinitely favourable to our idea of Mr. 
Macaulay’s character. His sturdy honesty and moral 
intrepidity were rare and noble, and uniformly convey the 
idea that we are dealing with a character, amid its own 
peculiar faults, that is truly simple and illustrious. His 
position was difficult and peculiar, a position where a man 
of an integrity less lofty might easily err. People called 
him an adventurer; and using the word in a good sense, in 
the sense in which the great majority of the best men 
are adventurers, namely, those who achieve instead of in¬ 
heriting their fortunes, there can be no fair objection to 
the term, or anything that can rightly make it invidious. 
The peculiarity in his case was rather this, that while he 
relied upon popular feeling, and on the popular side of 
politics, he primarily owed his fortunes to an aristocratic 
clique, for whom he might, as standing counsel, be sup¬ 
posed to be constantly holding a brief on a particular side 


96 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


of questions. The sentiments that might please the York¬ 
shire mechanics and artizans, might be distasteful to 
Venetian oligarchs. Macaulay avoided the danger on 
either side by a rigid adherence to duty, which does 
infinite honour to his character as a public man. His 
concsience was almost morbidly sensitive on these points. 
To give up his close borough, to give up his lucrative 
office, to give up his great friends, was an instantaneous 
impulse whenever his convictions and his interests for a 
moment came into collision. This was his conduct towards 
the leading Whigs. His conduct towards the people was 
the same. His object, to use his own words, “ was not to 
flatter, but to serve them.” To lose the honour of repre¬ 
senting a great constituency, to be exposed to a storm of 
obloquy, to lose the fairest hopes of fortune and usefulness, 
was a sacrifice deliberately determined on whenever justice 
and honesty seemed to point this out. I am acquainted 
with few prominent characters in the range of English 
history, who are so entirely free from every trace of political 
tergiversation. And though he sometimes advocated 
extreme views, as in the case of the Ballot, it was known 
that they were the extreme views of an enlightened 
and cultured mind, and it was felt that under his 
guidance the path of daring might be the path of safety. 
I am afraid that he gave up to Party much that was meant 
for mankind. I think his mind, though never tainted by 
insincerity, was tinged by party feelings. From many of 
his conclusions in history, politics, and ecclesiastical 
matters, as far as I am capable of dissenting, I do most 
strongly dissent. But remembering this, and having to 
write as impartially as I can, I think that his political 
career is a very model for an English gentleman and 
statesman. 


STATEMENT OF OPINIONS. 


97 


I now come to some of his letters and speeches at the 
time of the Leeds election. They are, I think, very inter¬ 
esting both as a record of his opinions, and also as helping 
us to understand the history of his mind. They have, 
too, some biographical importance. 

When a requisition, numerously and respectably signed, 
was presented to him, he returned the following reply:— 

“ London, October 5th, 1831. 

cf Gentlemen, —It is not easy for me to express the 
feelings of pride and pleasure with which I have read your 
requisition, and looked over the long series of respectable 
names attached to it. The trust which you have offered 
to me is one which, young as I am in public life, and 
unconnected as I am with your town, I should have 
thought it the height of presumption to solicit. It is one 
which I should consider as an ample reward for a long 
course of laborious public service. Should you place me 
in the high and honourable situation of your represen¬ 
tative, it shall be my constant endeavour to vindicate 
your choice by steadily adhering to those public principles 
to which alone, as I well know, I am indebted for your 
favour. 

“ What those public principles are, I need not here state 
at length. I have to the best of my power supported the 
Reform Bill introduced by Ilis Majesty^s Ministers, and 
I shall always be ready to support every measure which 
may appear to me necessary to secure the freedom and 
purity of election. 

“ I am firmly convinced that the system of slavery which 
exists in our colonies is inconsistent with religion, with 
morality, and with sound policy, and that it is the duty of 
the Legislature to take measures for the early and complete 

H 


98 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

extinction of that great evil. Such measures will always 
have my warmest support. I shall at the same time be 
ready to concur in every regulation which may he neces¬ 
sary for the protection of those British labourers who are 
so situated that they can scarcely be considered as free 
agents. 

“ A great and extensive reform in the whole system of 
our civil and criminal jurisprudence ought to be, and I 
trust will be, the consequence of reform in the represen¬ 
tation. 

“ To mitigate as far as possible the public burdens, and 
to distribute them judiciously, will be among the first 
duties of the Parliament. It will be in an especial manner 
the duty of those who may, under the new system, repre¬ 
sent the great manufacturing towns to attack those 
monopolies by which, far more than by direct taxation, 
the difficulties under which the country now lies have 
been produced. I conceive, in particular, that the whole 
system of the Corn Laws requires a complete revision, and 
that the vast market of the East ought, with as little delay 
as possible, to be thrown open to English industry and 
enterprise. 

“A reformed House of Commons will undoubtedly 
take into its most serious consideration the state of 
Ireland. I shall assuredly support, to the best of my 
ability, any measure which may appear to me likely to 
improve the moral and physical condition of a people 
suffering under the effects of many ages of misgovern- 
ment. 

“ I trust that it will be in my power shortly to visit 
Leeds, to return thanks personally to those who have 
honoured me with their confidence, and to return full 
and explicit answers to those questions which electors are 


SPEECH AT LEEDS. 


99 


entitled to ask of every man who solicits a public trust at 
their hands. I will therefore at present only repeat, that 
I feel the deepest gratitude for your kindness, and that if 
your choice shall fall on me, my time, and whatever talents 
I possess, shall be devoted to your service. 

“ I have the honour to be, gentlemen, 

“ Your most faithful servant, 

“ T. B. Macaulay.” 

In June, 1832, he made a visit to Leeds. He arrived, 
as we learn, on the 13th, having travelled post from Caine, 
after his re-election for that borough : he had, of course, 
travelled all night. Being recognised as he entered the 
town, he was conducted to the rotunda of the Cloth Hall, 
where the Committee was sitting; and after receiving 
their hearty and joyous -welcome on his arrival in the 
town, he drove to the house where he was to stay during 
the very short time he was able to remain in Leeds. 
Public and parliamentary business compelled him, we 
believe, to leave for London the next day. The following 
is the report of his speech :— 

“ Gentlemen,— I very much fear that it will be out of 
my power to vindicate before you the kind and too 
flattering compliments which my friend Mr. Bower has 
paid me. I am not certainly altogether unaccustomed to 
public speaking, but on this occasion I feel an embarrass¬ 
ment such as I never have felt before: the extreme kind¬ 
ness and warmth of that reception which I have met with 
from you quite overpowers me. The pleasure which I 
feel on this day is no selfish pleasure, for I well know— 
indeed, it is impossible it should be otherwise—that your 
kindness to me arises not from personal considerations, 
but solely from your firm attachment to those great prin- 


100 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

ciples of which I have been a sincere advocate. From 
the bottom of my heart, Gentlemen, I thank you for the 
kindness of your reception, and with all sincerity I assure 
you that if it shall be your pleasure to repose in me that 
high trust which, uninvited, I should never have presumed 
to solicit, but which, when offered, I should think it pusil¬ 
lanimity to decline, I can with all sincerity assure you 
that you shall receive from me, not flattery, not servility, 
but faithful, careful, and industrious service. I find it 
difficult to express my gratification at seeing such an 
assembly convened at such a time. All the history of our 
own country, all the history of other countries, furnishes 
nothing parallel to it. Great deliverances have, indeed, 
at other times been wrought for oppressed nations, but 
they have generally been wrought by the sword. They 
have been wrought in the midst of confusion, agitation, 
confiscation, and massacre. Look at the great events in 
our own former history, and in every one of them which, 
for importance, we can venture to compare with the 
Reform Bill, we shall find something to disgrace and 
tarnish the achievement. Look, for instance, at that 
great event which happened on the 15th June six 
centuries ago, when the Great Charter was signed. It 
was by the assistance of French arms and of Homan bulls 
that King John was harassed into giving that charter. 
Again, in the times of Charles I., how much injustice, 
how much crime, how much bloodshed and misery, did it 
cost to assert the liberties of England ! But in this event, 
great and important as it is in substance, I confess I 
think it still more important from the manner in which it 
has been achieved. Other countries have obtained de¬ 
liverances equally signal and complete, but in no country 
has that deliverance been obtained with such perfect 


SPEECH AT LEEDS. 


101 


peace, so entirely witliin the bounds of the Constitution, 
with all the forms of law observed, the government of the 
country proceeding in its regular course, every man going 
forth unto his labour until the evening;—in no other 
country, I say, has such a system of abuse been over¬ 
thrown, or could it have been overthrown, but by a civil 
war. France boasts, and with justice, of her three days 
of July, when her people rose, the military were attacked, 
the pavements were torn up, barricades fenced the streets, 
shops filled with arms were attacked, and the entire popu¬ 
lation of the capital in arms successfully vindicated their 
liberties. They boast, and justly, of those three days 
of July; but I will boast of our ten days of May. I 
will boast of the great victory achieved at the time when 
the retirement of Ministers left the great offices of 
state unoccupied. We, too, fought a great battle, but 
it was with moral arms; we, too, placed an impassable 
barrier between ourselves and military tyranny; but we 
fenced ourselves onty with moral barricades. Not one 
crime committed, not one acre confiscated, not one life 
lost, not one instance of outrage or attack on the autho¬ 
rities or the laws. Our victory has not left a single 
family in mourning. Not one single tear, not one single 
drop of blood, has sullied the pacific and blameless triumph 
of a great people. These events we may look upon with 
just pride, and in looking at them we cannot but feel 
hope and confidence for our country, hope and confidence 
for the human race. When it is said that there is danger 
in extension of power to the people, I say the very manner 
in which they have attained it is a proof that they will 
not abuse it. The firmness, the intelligence, the organi¬ 
zation, the constitutional and peaceful spirit, that they 
have shown, prove that they are entitled to the franchise 


102 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


that is given to them. On these things I reflect with 
perfect joy. If we had obtained the Reform Bill by arms, 
I might have doubted if liberty had not been bestowed on 
a people not fit yet to use it. Now no such doubt is left. 
The very manner in which victory has been obtained is a 
pledge that it will be wisely and honourably used. For, 
Gentlemen, consider that on the use you now make of the 
power you have obtained, depends whether that power 
shall be a blessing or a curse. Gentlemen, you know well 
that no institutions, no laws, however good, can make 
freemen of men who are morally and intellectually in 
bondage. You know that when vice and vindictive pas¬ 
sions prevail, bills of rights, charters, and constitutions, 
leave men as much slaves as thev found them. You know 
that the true secret of all wisdom is expressed in those 
noble words uttered by divine wisdom, f If the truth 
make you free, you shall be free indeed. 1 I firmly trust, 
therefore, that the power now bestowed on the English 
people will be used in a manner honourable to themselves, 
and tending to promote the public interest. I think I 
distinctly see before me a long vista of peaceful and happy 
years, in which the people will be obedient, because the 
Government is liberal—years during which those who 
lived by abuses, and those who lived by trading on the 
discontent which abuses generate, will alike find their 
traffic destroyed—years during which we shall see the 
people triumphant over both these classes of enemies, who 
have of late formed a coalition to destroy the Reform Bill 
—the enemies of all order, and the enemies of all liberty. 
Gentlemen, with feelings of the most sincere gratitude, 
and I may add, of friendship and affection, for that town 
in which I have received such marks of kindness as I feel 
I could not deserve, I now bid you for a short time fare- 


ANOTHER SPEECH AT LEEDS. 


103 


well. If, as you have given me reason to hope, a perma¬ 
nent connection shall be established between us, it will 
often be my duty to meet you, and whether we agree or 
disagree on any public question, I give you my solemn 
pledge, that nothing in my political life shall make me 
ashamed to look upon you as I look upon you now.” 

The following is a report of another speech. We tran¬ 
scribe the bye-play and the incidents, which are interesting 
and characteristic enough of a contested election :— 

“ I am perfectly aware, Gentlemen, that I have not 
merited those signs of kindness and approbation with 
which a large part of this great community has thought 
fit to receive me. But of this, Gentlemen, I am con¬ 
vinced, that I have not, from any part of this great city, 
or from any part of the people of England, merited an 
unkind or discourteous reception. I am not aware that 
in any part of my public conduct I have been guilty— 
(here interruption was occasioned by some person in the 
crowd addressing an observation to Mr. Macaulay, which 
he did not distinctly hear; he said)—I should be extremely 
obliged if the gentleman who makes any animadversions 
on my conduct will make them openly ; let him state what 
is the charge he brings against me, and I pledge myself 
to answer it. Gentlemen, the situation in which I stand 
before you is not one of my own seeking. I never dreamed 
of soliciting the high and important trust of representative 
from this great city. But, at the request of many hun¬ 
dreds of persons, I was induced to make my appearance 
among you, feeling that it would not be modesty, but 
cowardice, in such times as the present, to avoid a public 
trust, when that trust is offered by honourable and respect¬ 
able persons. (Renewed disturbance proceeding from the 
quarter from which the opposition had proceeded at the 


104 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 


very commencement of Mr. Macaulay’s speech.) Gentle¬ 
men, I trust I shall not have to ask for a hearing in vain. 
(Here the uproar was renewed, and became extremely 
loud, accompanied by demands that the coach on which 
Mr. Macaulay spoke should be taken to the front of the 
hustings : this was after some time, and with much diffi¬ 
culty, effected, and Mr. Macaulay then resumed his 
address.) Gentlemen, your enemies have heard me when 
I spoke in your cause, and I hope you will hear me whilst 
I address yourselves. The only charge which malice can 
prefer against me is that which I have seen in a placard 
on your walls, namely, that I am a placeman. On that 
subject I trust you will hear a few words. Gentlemen, is 
it your wish that those persons who are thought worthy 
of the public confidence should never possess the confi¬ 
dence of the King ? Is it your wish that no men should 
be ministers but those whom no populous places will take 
as their representatives ? By whom, I ask, has the Reform 
Bill been carried ? By ministers. Who have raised Leeds 
into the situation to return members to Parliament ? It 
is by the strenuous efforts of a patriotic ministry that that 
great effect has been produced. I should think that the 
Reform Bill had done little for the people, if under it the 
service of the people was not consistent with the service of 
the Crown. Of the placards against me on your walls, all 
those which descend to details are directly false. It is not 
true that I have accepted a place of 1500/. a year. Under 
the former Government a seat at the India Board was 
little better than a sinecure with 1500/. a year; under the 
present Government it will be an efficient office with 1200/. 
It is not true that there is any patronage, or anything 
whatever, direct or indirect, which swells the value of the 
place to 2000/. a-vear. I will explain to you, Gentlemen, 


ANOTHER SPEECH AT LEEDS. 


105 


fully, under what circumstances I accepted office. When 
that excellent and honourable man, and true friend of the 
people, Lord Althorp, told me that Government desired to 
see me in that situation, I told him that I would not have 
accepted it if I thought it was a sinecure; that on that 
subject I had made the closest inquiry, and that I had 
found that, though under former Governments it had 
degenerated into a sinecure, it might be made a most 
efficient and useful office, and that on a great question, 
most interesting to humanity, most interesting to trade, 
most interesting to every feeling that could interest an 
honest public man, it would be in my power to render my 
country greater service in office, than I could as an indivi¬ 
dual member of Parliament. With such feelings and such 
wishes, Gentlemen, I have accepted office : I will hold it 
only while I can hold it with honour. My opinions on all 
great public questions remain unchanged. I do not deny 
that on some particular questions it may occasionally be 
desirable and necessary for official men—as it is desirable 
and necessary for every man, official or not, who co-ope¬ 
rates with others—to suspend or to delay for a time 
pressing forward things which he thinks most important. 
That there may be government there must be co-opera¬ 
tion ; that there may be co-operation there must be 
compromise. The Reform Bill itself was a compromise. 
What should we have done if one man, because he 
was for triennial parliaments—if another, because he 
was for scot-and-lot suffrage—if another, because he was 
for district representation—had each brought forward his 
own plan, and had not united in support of that plan of 
which we are met this day to celebrate the triumph ? On 
questions, therefore, on which honest men may make a 
compromise, I will make it, and on no other. But this I 


106 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


say, that my attachment to the great principles of civil 
and religious liberty, of freedom of worship, freedom of 
discussion, and freedom of trade, remains unaltered and 
unalterable. I accept office because I believe I can act 
with more efficiency, as I certainly will with undiminished 
zeal, in support of these great objects. Gentlemen, my 
claims, such as they are, are before you. I have no dis¬ 
position to speak of them boastingly, and still less have I 
disposition to speak disparagingly, in his absence, of any 
gentleman who may think fit to engage against me in an 
object of honourable ambition, and in the pursuit of a 
great public trust. If there is to be a contest at Leeds, 
whatever may be its course or its issue, to this I pledge 
myself, that nothing inconsistent with the conduct of an 
Englishman or a gentleman, nothing calculated to assail 
private character, nothing of vindictive feeling, nothing 
tending to leave a pang in the mind of any man after the 
election is over, shall be done or shall be countenanced by 
me. Gentlemen, whatever claims I have on your support 
are of a public, notorious kind. [Here considerable inter¬ 
ruption was made to Mr. Macaulay's further proceeding, 
by a person in the crowd asking Mr. Macaulay what he 
thought of Mr. Sadler's Factory Bill.] Gentlemen, my 
answer to that question is, that I agree with the principle 
of the Factory Bill. Of its details, knowing nothing 
myself, I am sorry to say, of the particular operation of 
the manufacturing system on this subject, I am not able 
to judge. You are aware that a committee has been 
appointed, selected, I believe, by Mr. Sadler himself (a 
voice in the crowd f No, no, 5 )—well, be it so, or be it not, 
I say that to the principle of the Factory Bill I assent. 
The details of a measure for protecting children from 
being overworked, and from every kind of cruelty, I can- 


INCIDENTS OF THE SPEECH. 


107 


not pronounce upon; I cannot know what is the extent 
of the evil, till the evidence on this Bill shall be in my 
hands. It will shortly be in my hands, and I will then 
give it my best attention. I will give no other pledge 
than this, that I will assent at any sacrifice to any measure 
that may seem to me necessary for protecting children 
from overworking and cruelty; but whether the provisions 
of Mr. Sadler’s Bill be proper and efficient, is a question 
I cannot determine till I have the evidence before me. 
This is my answer, and whether it be popular or unpopular, 
I trust you will think it fair and open. [Here great dis¬ 
turbance and a long interruption was produced by Mr. 
Oastler pushing forward through the crowd, and insisting on 
being allowed to ask Mr. Macaulay some questions. Great 
opposition was made to Mr. Oastler being allowed to speak, 
on the ground that he was not an inhabitant of the borough; 
he manifested a determination, however, to be heard, 
and being seconded by those parties in the crowd who had 
been listening to his harangues, he struggled to the side 
of the coach from which Mr. Macaulay was speaking, and 
at length contrived to get upon it, though at the expense 
of his coat being torn up to the top of his back. At the 
same time Mr. Ralph Taylor succeeded, though with much 
difficulty, in ascending the coach on the opposite side. 
The roof of the vehicle being now so much crowded as to 
render standing upon it dangerous, Mr. Macaulay quitted 
it and ascended the steps of the Cloth Hall, the place from 
which it had been originally intended that the candidate 
should speak]. 

At this period three cheers were given for Mr. Mac¬ 
aulay and three for Mr. Marshall. 

Mr. Macaulay, being here very loudly and generally 
called for, addressed a few observations to the meeting 


108 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOKD MACAULAY. 


before it broke up. He said : “ Gentlemen, you have 
heard what are my principles ; you have them in writing. 
I feel I can, with perfect confidence, give you this pledge, 
that those principles I never will desert. I have held them 
in bad tines, and I shall assuredly not desert them now. 
Gentlemen, I fully agree with my honourable friend who 
lately addressed you (Mr. Richardson) in the opinion that 
the Reform Bill is not an end; it cannot, in its nature, be 
an end; it can only be a means. Reform of Parliament, 
like all reforms of Government, is good only so far as it 
tends to promote the happiness of the great body of the 
people. I am sure that to an assembly so enlightened as 
this, it must be obvious that the best government cannot 
act directly and suddenly and violently on the comforts of 
the people; it cannot rain down provisions into their 
houses, it cannot give them bread and meat and wine; 
these things they can only obtain by their own honest 
industry, and to protect them in that honest industry and 
secure to them its fruits is the end of all honest govern¬ 
ment ; and the mode in which that end is accomplished is 
the test by which all governments must be tried. I have 
never held out to you—you would despise me if I had held 
out—that there will be immediately, as the results of the 
Reform Bill, full labour and full meals for all; but this I 
do say, that by just and w r ise legislation, by strict economy 
in every part of the government, by adopting a system 
with regard to trade that shall give freedom to capital and 
industry, and open new markets to commercial enterprise; 
by such a system I firmly believe that the prosperity of 
the country will not only be restored, but carried to a 
point far higher than it has ever hitherto reached. I do 
not, I cannot despair of the fortunes of a people so great, 
so intelligent as this. When I look, indeed, at the mag- 


BURDENS AND ENTERPRISE. 


109 


nitude of our public debt and our public burdens, I see 
some things to alarm me. But when I remember that 
burdens far less terrible than these were represented as 
likely to destroy the nation; when I reflect that two 
hundred years ago, a debt of twenty millions would have 
seemed incredible, that one hundred years ago a debt of 
two hundred millions would have seemed visionary, and 
that fifty years ago if any person had mentioned the 
amount of the present debt, people would have said that 
he told them a fairy tale; when, moreover, I see the 
industry of the people and their intelligence, which gives 
that industry fair play,—as we at the present look back 
with contempt at the statesmen who said that a debt of 
two hundred millions would be the ruin of the country, 
so I believe our grandchildren, seeing this country becom¬ 
ing greater and happier, and all her social institutions 
improving, will smile at the idea that our present debt 
should be the means of dragging down the nation to de¬ 
struction. No nation of which the heart is sound, no nation 
of which the head is clear, can ever decay, I feel perfectly 
convinced that the Reform Bill will take away the causes 
which, for years past, have prevented the industry and the 
prosperity of the country from spreading as it would have 
done. And if I have the pleasure to see, twenty years 
hence, the citizens of Leeds gathered in this place, I expect 
to see this town, which has already done so much and 
spread so far, and reared such noble institutions—its trade 
being furnished with wider markets, and its industry sti¬ 
mulated by stronger motives—arrived at a degree of wealth 
and prosperity such as may now seem visionary to antici¬ 
pate. Gentlemen, I must instantly, without the delay of 
a single day, return to Parliament, to stand by those who 
have stood by us—to help the Scotch and Irish with their 


110 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

Reform Bills; and I shall carry back with me a stronger 
motive, if possible, than I have ever before had to pro¬ 
mote the cause of Parliamentary Reform, and to further 
every question that can improve the condition of this great 
people/’ 

The next extract is highly interesting. It relates chiefly 
to the religious opinions held by the illustrious historian. 
An attempt had been made to excite a feeling of dislike 
against him on the ground that he was a Socinian or a 
Deist. There are few who will not sympathise with his 
hearty indignation, and condemn the unprincipled effort 
to influence the fate of the election by the improper use of 
these sacred considerations. In reference to the question 
involved, we may observe that nowhere in his writings is 
there any definite confession of religious faith, and that 
among the friends of his family, many of whom were asso¬ 
ciated with the Evangelical movement of the day, we 
believe it was a matter of regret that he could not be con¬ 
sidered to belong to their body. This is a subject on which 
we shall not proceed, content with Lord Macaulay’s asser¬ 
tion, borne out by a simple, self-denying, charitable life, 
that he was a Christian. Archdeacon Sinclair, the incum¬ 
bent of the parish where he died, shortly afterwards made, 
in a sermon, an interesting statement respecting him. 

A person in the body of the saloon exclaimed, “An 
elector wishes to know the religious creed of Messrs. Mar¬ 
shall and Macaulay.” 

Mr. Macaulay (hastily rising from his seat).—“ Who 
calls for that ? ” 

Answer .—“ I do.” 

Mr. Macaulay.—“ May I see him stand up ? ” 

The confusion that here ensued is indescribable. Mr. 
Macaulay several times demanded that the individual 


CONFESSION OF FAITH. 


Ill 


should stand upon the form ; and his supporters who were 
around the gentleman insisted that Mr. M.’s wish should 
be complied with. A number of voices called —“ Turn 
him out —“ Shame! ”—“ Hear him! ” At length the chair¬ 
man requested that the person should stand up, that order 
might be restored. 

A gentleman accordingly stood up, who proved to be 
a local preacher in the Methodist connection. 

Mr. Macaulay .—“ I must say that I have heard with 
the greatest shame and sorrow the question which has 
been proposed to me; and with peculiar pain and sorrow 
do I learn, that this question was proposed by a minister 
of religion. I do most deeply regret that any person 
should think it necessary to make a meeting like this an 
arena for theological discussion. I will not be a party to 
turning this assembly to such a purpose. My answer is 
short, and in one word—I regret that it should be neces¬ 
sary to utter it. Gentlemen, I am a Christian. (Cheers.) 
Gentlemen, this is no subject for hearty acclamation. I 
have done; I will say no more; no man shall have to say 
of me that I was the person who, when this disgraceful 
inquisition was entered into in an assembly of Englishmen, 
actually brought forward the most sacred subjects to be 
canvassed here—who brought forward these subjects to be 
a matter for hissing or for cheering. If on any future 
occasion it should happen that Mr. Carlisle or Mr. Kobert 
Taylor should favour any large meeting with their infidel 
observations against the Gospel, he shall not have it to say 
that I set the example. Gentlemen, I have done; I tell 
you, I will say no more ; and if the person who has thought 
fit to ask this question has the feelings of a person worthy 
of being a teacher of religion, he will not, I think, rejoice 
that he has called me forth.'' 


112 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


Here the confusion was renewed. The chairman called 
to order several times in vain. At length silence was 
obtained, and 

The questioner said he had not come there with any 
design of sowing discord. He had heard it thrown out 
that the candidates were Unitarians—that they were 
Nonconformists. 

Mr. Macaulay.—“ I have said that I will say no more 
than I have said. I will adhere to my resolution. It 
never shall be said, if my election for Leeds depended on 
it alone, that I was the first person to introduce a dis¬ 
cussion upon such a question as that which the rev. 
gentleman has introduced here or on the hustings at an 
election ” 

The following letters explain themselves:— 

“ London, August 2>rd , 1832. 

“My dear Sir, — I am truly happy to find that the 
opinion of my friends at Leeds on the subject of can¬ 
vassing agrees with that which I have long entertained. 
The practice of begging for votes is, as it seems to me, 
absurd, pernicious, and altogether at variance with the 
true principles of representative government. The suffrage 
of an elector ought not to be asked or to be given as a 
personal favour. It is as much for the interest of consti¬ 
tuents to choose well, as it can he for the interest of a can¬ 
didate to be chosen. To request an honest man to vote 
according to his conscience is superfluous. To request 
him to vote against his conscience is an insult. 

“ The practice of canvassing is quite reasonable under 
a system in which men are sent to Parliament to serve 
themselves. It is the height of absurdity under a system 
under which men are sent to Parliament to serve the 


OPINION ON CANVASSING. 


113 


public. TV bile we bad only a mock representation it 
was natural enough that this practice should be carried 
to a great extent. I trust it will soon perish with the 
abuses from which it sprung; I trust that the great and 
intelligent body of people who have obtained the elective 
franchise will see that seats in the House of Commons 
ought not to be given, like rooms in an almshouse, to 
urgency of solicitation, and that a man who surrenders 
his vote to caresses and supplications forgets his duty as 
much as if he sold it for a bank note. I hope to see the 
day when an Englishman will think it as great an affront 
to be courted and fawned upon in his capacity of elector 
as in his capacity of juryman—in the polling-booth as in 
the jury-box he has a great trust confided to him, a 
sacred duty to discharge. He would be shocked at the 
thought of finding an unjust verdict because the plaintiff 
or the defendant had been very civil or pressing; and if 
he would reflect, he would, I think, be equally shocked at 
the thought of voting for a candidate for whose public 
character he felt no esteem, merely because that candi¬ 
date had called upon him and begged very hard and had 
shaken his hand very warmly. I am delighted, though 
not at all surprised, to find that the enlightened and 
public-spirited gentlemen, in whose name you write, agree 
with me on this subject. My conduct is before the 
electors of Leeds. My opinions shall on all occasions be 
stated to them with perfect frankness, if they approve 
that conduct, if they concur in those opinions they ought 
not for my sake, but for their own, to choose me as their 
Member. To be so chosen I should indeed consider as a 
high and enviable honour; but I should think it no honour 
to be returned to Parliament by persons who, thinking 
me destitute of the requisite qualifications, had yet been 


114 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

wrought upon by cajolery and importunity to poll for me 
in despite of their better judgment. 

“ I will now proceed to answer the questions which you 
have proposed as plainly as I can. To most of them I 
have formerly replied, and need now only by a simple 
affirmative. I am convinced the Corn Laws ought to be 
altered in such a manner as may enable the consumers to 
obtain cheaper bread; that the strictest economy ought 
to be observed; that sinecures ought to be abolished; 
that no pension ought to be henceforth given which has 
not been earned by public services; that tithes ought, 
both in England and Ireland, to be extinguished by a fair 
commutation; that slavery ought to be abolished in every 
part of the empire; that monopolies ought to be de¬ 
stroyed ; that many parts of our municipal system ought 
to undergo a revision; and that a great and extensive 
reform in the law, with the view of making it cheaper, 
clearer, and more rational, is indispensably required. I 
dislike the taxes on newspapers, because I conceive that in 
the present state of public feeling they operate not only 
as a tax on sound knowledge, but as a bounty on profli¬ 
gate and inflammatory publications. I heartily hope 
that they will soon be taken off. I am decidedly favour¬ 
able to the principle of a bond fide property-tax. 

“ There are some other questions in the paper trans¬ 
mitted to me which require longer answers. You ask 
me whether I will support f an equalisation, to a great 
extent, of the Church Establishment, and a ceasing to 
compel any one to pay for the maintenance of any par¬ 
ticular doctrine which he does not approve ? ’ 

“This question seems to involve a contradiction. ‘An 
equalisation to a great extent of the Church Establish¬ 
ment * implies that there is still to be a Church Esta- 


QUESTION OF CHURCH AND STATE. 115 

blishment; * a ceasing to compel any one to pay for the 
maintenance of any particular doctrine which he does not 
approve/ implies the complete abolition of the Church 
Establishment. 

“ There is not, I think, a more perplexing question in 
the whole science of politics than the question, whether 
it be or be not desirable that the State should make pro¬ 
vision for the religious instruction of the people. In fact 
it is a question which does not admit of a general 
solution. 

“We must look at the circumstances of every particular 
case. The Americans, situated as they are, judge wisely 
in having no established religion. The French, on the 
other hand, judge as wisely in giving a stipend from the 
revenues of the State to the ministers of opposite religions. 
Before we can properly decide what course ought to be 
taken in England, it is necessary that we should take 
many circumstances into consideration; the nature of the 
ecclesiastical revenues; the manner in which those 
revenues are mixed up with private property; the state of 
public feeling towards the Church. We ought also to 
consider whether the dislike which is undoubtedly felt 
towards the Church by a great and respectable party in 
the country, be a curable or incurable dislike, whether it 
proceed from anything essentially bad in the doctrines or 
constitution, or from corruptions which judicious legisla¬ 
tion might remove. These are matters of which I have 
thought long and anxiously. It would be impossible for 
me, within the limits to which I must on the present occa¬ 
sion confine myself, to state all the arguments on both 
sides which have occurred to me. I will therefore simply 
declare my opinion, without defending it at length. I 
think it desirable that the Church of England should be 


116 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


reformed. I do not think it desirable that it should be 
destroyed. 

“ I have said that I object to monopolies generally, and 
I know of no reason for making an exception in favour of 
the Bank. But as the question relating to that corpora¬ 
tion is one which I have not minutely studied, as it is one 
respecting which very acute and liberal men are undecided, 
and as it is one which a Committee of the House of 
Commons is still engaged in investigating, I think it right 
to suspend my judgment. You must permit me to say that 
I entertain great doubts about the expediency of establish¬ 
ing a National Bank, to be conducted under the superin¬ 
tendence of the Government, and for the profit of the 
State. That superintendence would, I fear, be careless, 
and that profit might turn out a loss. Trading govern¬ 
ments have seldom performed well either the business of 
governing or the business of trading. I throw out these 
merely as my first thoughts. The subject is one which 
requires much longer consideration than I have been 
able to give to it. 

“ My opinions concerning the ballot are already before 
you. They are unaltered. I still continue to think that 
it is the best mode of voting—the mode of voting which 
most completely secures the elector against the legal 
coercion of the few, and against the physical coercion 
of the many; against ejectments on the one hand, 
and the outrages of mobs on the other. You ask my 
opinion concerning Triennial Parliaments. I think 
seven years rather too long a term. But I am inclined to 
think the term of three years rather too short. At all 
events, I think that it will be desirable, if the duration of 
Parliaments is shortened, to abolish the absurd law which 
provides that a dissolution shall follow the demise of the 


OPINIONS V. PLEDGES. 


117 


Crown; that law has within my own memory, dispersed a 
Parliament which had scarcely sat a year. But I will 
frankly confess, that I am not disposed at this time to 
press the introduction of ballot or any other extensive 
change in our representative system. We have made a 
great experiment. Let us pause, at least for a few months, 
and watch its effects. Till the first elections under the 
new law shall have taken place it will be impossible to say 
how much that law may have indirectly done to remove 
those evils which produced the feeling in favour of the 
ballot. Till a session or two has passed it will not he 
easy to judge whether it be or be not necessary that the 
representatives of the people should be called to a triennial 
reckoning. The game is in our hands. We are sure that 
we can, if necessary, follow up the great victory which we 
have won. The delay of a year is nothing in the life of a 
nation. The events of a year may teach us inestimable 
lessons. Of this, however, you may be assured, that I will 
never shrink from any change, however extensive, which 
experience may prove to be necessary for the good govern¬ 
ment of the people. 

“ I wish to add a few words touching a question which 
has lately been much canvassed; I mean the question of 
the pledges. In this letter, and in every letter which I 
have written to my friends at Leeds, I have plainly 
declared my opinions. But I think it, at this conjuncture, 
my duty to declare that I will give no pledges. I will 
not bind myself to make or to support any particular 
motion. I will state as shortly as I can some of the 
reasons which have induced me to form this determina¬ 
tion. The great beauty of the representative system is, 
that it unites the advantages of popular control with the 
advantage arising from a division of labour; just as a 


118 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


physician understands medicine better than an ordinary 
man; just as a shoemaker makes shoes better than an 
ordinary man, a person whose life is passed in transacting 
affairs of State becomes a better statesman than an ordi¬ 
nary man. In politics, as well as every other depart¬ 
ment of life, the public ought to have the means of 
checking those who serve it. If a man finds that he 
derives no benefit from the prescription of his physician, 
he calls in another; if his shoes do not fit him, he 
changes his shoemaker; if his representatives misgovern 
him, he can discard them at the next election; but when 
he has called in a physician of whom he hears a good 
report, and whose general practice he believes to be 
judicious, it would be absurd in him to tie down that 
physician to order particular pills and particular draughts. 
While he continues to be the customer of a shoemaker, it 
would be absurd in him to sit by and mete every motion 
of that shoemaker’s hand. And in the same manner, it 
would, I think, be absurd in him to require positive 
pledges, and to exact daily and hourly obedience from his 
representative. My opinion is, that electors ought at first 
to choose cautiously, then to confide liberally; and when 
the term for which they have selected their member has 
expired, to review his conduct equitably, and to pronounce 
on the whole taken together. 

“ Consider, too, that the business of a Member of Par¬ 
liament is the pursuit not of speculative truth, but of 
practical good; and that though in speculation every 
truth is consistent with every other truth, yet in prac¬ 
tice one good measure may be incompatible with another. 
It is often absolutely necessary to bear with a lesser evil 
in order to get rid of a greater. For example, I think 
the Corn Laws an evil; but if there had been in this 


LIBERTY AND RESPONSIBILITY. 


119 


Parliament a hundred or a hundred and fifty members 
absolutely bound by pledges to attempt the abolition of 
the Corn Laws, there would have been a division in the 
ranks of the reformers, the Tories would have triumphed, 
and I verily believe, that at the moment at which I am 
writing, Lord John Russell’s Bill would have been lost, 
and the Duke of Wellington would have been Prime 
Minister. 

“ Such cases may and will occur again. Some such 
cases I can, I think, distinctly foresee. I conceive, there¬ 
fore, that it is the true wisdom of electors to choose a 
representative whom they believe to be honest and en¬ 
lightened, and having chosen him, to leave him a large 
discretion. When his term expires, when he again 
presents himself before them, it will be their duty to take 
a general survey of his conduct and to consider whether 
he have or have not pursued that course which has, under 
all the circumstances, most tended to promote the public 
good. 

“ If the people of Leeds think proper to repose in me 
that confidence which is necessary to the proper discharge 
of the duties of a representative, I hope that I shall not 
abuse it. If it be their pleasure to fetter their members 
by positive promises, it is in their power to do so. I can 
only say that on such terms I cannot conscientiously serve 
them. 

“ I hope, and feel assured, that the sincerity with which 
I make this explicit declaration, will, if it deprive me of 
the votes of my friends at Leeds, secure to me what I 
value far more highly, their esteem. 

“ Believe me ever, my dear Sir, 

“ Your most faithful servant, 

“T. B. Macaulay.” 


120 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD. MACAULAY. 


“ London, A ugust 10th, 1832. 

“My dear Sir, —I am glad to find that our opinions 
respecting the Church differ only in appearance. I 
should say that the incumbent of a Crown living, who is 
supported by tithes or by the produce of an estate for 
which the tithes have been commuted, is supported in 
part by people who differ from him in religious opinions. 
The fund from which he is paid is the property of the 
nation. The nation consists partly of Dissenters, but 
the fund is employed solely to maintain Churchmen. It 
may therefore, I think, in such a case, be said without 
impropriety, that Dissenters contribute to the support of 
a religion which is not their own. You will perceive that 
the difference between us is merely verbal. As to the 
substance of the question, we are agreed. 

“ I was perfectly aware that the avowal of my feelings 
on the subject of pledges was not likely to advance my 
interest at Leeds. I w r as perfectly aware that many of 
my most respectable friends were likely to differ from me. 
And therefore I thought it the more necessary to make, 
uninvited, an explicit declaration of my feelings. If ever 
there was a time when public men w r ere in an especial 
measure bound to speak the truth, the whole truth, and 
nothing but the truth, to the people, this is that time. 
Nothing is easier than for a candidate to avoid unpopular 
topics as long as possible, and when they are forced on 
him to take refuge in evasive and unmeaning phrases. 
Nothing is easier than for him to give extravagant pro¬ 
mises while an election is depending, and to forget them 
as soon as the return is made. I will take no such course. 
I do not wish to obtain a single vote under false pretences. 
Under the old system I have never been the flatterer of 


SPEECH AT LEEDS. 


121 


the great. Under the new system I will not be the flat¬ 
terer of the people. The truth, or what appears to me 
to be such, may sometimes be distasteful to those whose 
good opinion I most value. I shall nevertheless always 
abide by it, and trust to their good sense, to their second 
thoughts, to the force of reason and the progress of 
time. If, after all, their decision should be unfavourable 
to me, I shall submit to that decision with fortitude and 
good humour. It is not necessary to my happiness that 
I should sit in Parliament; but it is necessary to my 
happiness that I should possess, in Parliament or out of 
Parliament, the consciousness of having done what is 
right. 

“ Remember me kindly to all our friends, and believe 
me ever, my dear Sir, yours most faithfully, 

“T. B. Macaulay.” 

In September he made another visit, and delivered the 
following speech. He was received with loud and repeated 
cheers, and addressed the meeting as follows:— 

“ Gentlemen, —I am quite sure that however widely 
we may differ in opinion, we must all be convinced of this 
—that the only way to come to a right decision is by 
fairly hearing every person. Expressions of approbation 
and disapprobation, of course, every meeting like this is 
perfectly entitled to employ; but interruption merely for 
the sake of interruption proves nothing but this, that 
those who so interrupt are utterly unfit to exercise any 
deliberative or political function. If the opinions of men 
are reasonable, discussion will show they are founded in 
reason; if unreasonable, it ought to be the wish of every 
rational person to have them corrected by discussion. I 
should most deeply regret it, if any of those who honour 


122 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOPiD MACAULAY. 

me Tritli their support were to give the slightest disturb¬ 
ance to my honourable opponent, and the same measuie 
of justice which it is my inclination to show, I fully 
expect from you that I shall now receive. It is impossible 
for me to address you from this place, without remem¬ 
bering that the only time I ever was in this hall before 
was when we met to celebrate the passing of that great 
measure to which you owe it that you are now entitled to 
sit in judgment on the claims of candidates. On that 
occasion I saw this space filled with a crowd of persons 
who were met to celebrate the triumph of English liberty 
over good old English fare, and in a true English spirit. 
I well remember the joy and exultation with which at 
that time we contemplated the great triumph we had won. 
It is now for you to decide whether that triumph has or 
has not been won in vain. The Reform Bill in itself is 
nothing. All its utility, all its effect, it must derive from 
the wisdom and virtue of the constituent bodies which it 
calls into existence. Whatever an administration firmly 
attached as I believe it to be to the true interests of the 
people—whatever a House of Commons, which, though 
elected under the old system, did, I can truly say, coin¬ 
cide with the feelings and wishes of the nation—what¬ 
ever such a Government and such a House of Commons 
could do for you, has been done. The rest you must do 
for yourselves. There is no power in law, there is no 
power in government, to raise from degradation and dis¬ 
tress a people who are false to themselves. It is, it must 
be, their own work. All that we could do has been to 
put the power into their hands. It is for them to see that 
they use it rightly. My friend, Mr. Bower, has asked 
whether I adhere to the opinions, which a short time ago 
I gave in writing, as to some of the most important ques- 


RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 


123 


tions of public policy propounded to me by the Leeds 
Political Union. Gentlemen, to those opinions I adhere. 
If you do me the honour of placing me in Parliament, I 
shall go there determined in the first place to support, in 
office or out of office—and if in office, it will only be 
because I believe that I can be of more use to my country 
than out of office—the principles of civil and religious 
liberty. I am for peace with all the world, because I 
believe that on the maintenance of peace, more than on 
any single circumstance, depend the good government and 
happiness of nations. I am for peace, because I feel that 
scarcely any advantages that have ever been obtained by 
war could compensate to society for that which is the 
least part of the evils of war—namely, the vast waste of 
public treasure it occasions. I am for personal freedom 
in every part of the globe—freedom to the white and free¬ 
dom to the negro. I am for liberty of discussion, because 
I believe that without discussion no institutions can make 
a people permanently free and happy—because, in the 
best form of government, discussion is still required to 
secure the good working of that government—and because 
under the worst forms of government, public opinion has 
the power to mitigate if not to destroy the evil. I am for 
religious liberty in the fullest sense of the word; I detest 
all disabilities—everything which is galling to the con¬ 
science or which can shock the sincere scruples of any 
individual. I know perfectly well that these opinions may 
be represented, and that they have been represented—I 
have heard them so represented in the House of Commons 
—as opinions unfavourable to religion. My opinion is 
that pious policy is strictly tolerant. We act most in 
support of religion, and act in a manner most calculated 
to strengthen the interest of that religion, when we give 


124 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


universal freedom to religious belief. We hear it said,— 
and I lately have heard it said in the House of Commons, 
—that a policy which did not give a decided advantage to 
one sect over another, was an infidel policy. These words 
have been echoed and re-echoed in the country. According 
to this authority, justice is infidelity, and mercy is infi¬ 
delity, and toleration is liberalism, and liberalism is only 
another name for infidelity. It is infidelity, it seems, to 
think worthily of God and justly of his law, and not to 
encircle with worldly defences that religion of which the 
weapons are not carnal, and whose kingdom is not of 
this world. And it is infidelity to direct attacks rather 
against the evils of gross immorality, than against altars 
which, though differing from ours in form, are not perhaps 
heaped with less acceptable incense or kindled with less 
celestial fire. We must be content to bear this reproach 
as it was borne by the great men of former days—by 
Tillotson, Locke, and Sidney; and the only regret we 
ought to feel when we hear it is, that those men who profess, 
and perhaps sincerely feel a zeal for religion, should bring 
disgrace on those truths which are the last restraint on 
the powerful, and the last consolation of the unhappy. 
As I am for freedom of discussion and of worship, so I 
am also for freedom of trade. I am for a system under 
which we may sell where we can sell dearest, and buy 
where we can buy cheapest. I firmly believe that by just 
legislation on commercial subjects, a great part of that 
distress which the people of this country labour under 
may be alleviated or removed. And as I am now speaking 
on commercial subjects, I think it right, without waiting 
for any questioning, openly and at once to tell you the 
state of my mind with regard to the question which 
furnishes mottoes for some of these flags. Gentlemen, 


CHILDREN IN FACTORIES. 


125 


when I last appeared at Leeds, I said distinctly that 
in my opinion the employment of children in factories 
required legislative interference. I said at the same time 
that until there was before me the evidence as to the 
extent of the evil, and as to the nature of the remedies 
required, I would give no opinion upon details. Gentle¬ 
men, as that evidence is not yet printed, it is out of my 
power to give a positive opinion as to the extent of regu¬ 
lation which the factory system requires. But, Gentle¬ 
men, permit me to say that though I distinctly admit that 
the employment of children in factories does require regu¬ 
lation, I can by no means admit that those topics which 
I have so often heard advanced upon this subject, have in 
them any soundness; and I do say, that if there should be 
any great expectations of relief from this measure by the 
lower orders—lower !—I ought to apologise for using the 
word, for they are lower only because Providence has 
decreed that some of us should earn our bread by the 
sweat of our brow;—if the labouring class expect great 
relief from any practicable measure of this nature, they 
are under a great delusion. They are confounding the 
symptoms of the disease with the disease itself. They are 
acting much in the way a man should act if, when he had 
a fever and felt hot and uncomfortable, he should think 
merely of plunging into ice water, in order to get relieved, 
and should make the fever worse and carry it on to death. 
I believe the overworking of children, as far as it exists, 
is not a cause, but an effect of distress. A bad system of 
legislation, excessive taxation, wars imprudently com¬ 
menced and imprudently carried on; these things have 
brought this country into a state in which the labourer 
and his family cannot live as they can in the United 
States. I say, that if under these circumstances, instead 


126 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 

of falling on the real causes of the evil, and depending 
on judicious legislation with regard to trade, and strict 
economy in the public expenditure, you attack the 
symptoms which are not the disease; if you merely make 
a law to say, when laws which now exist render it difficult 
for a child when working ten hours a day to obtain a 
subsistence, that it shall not work more than ten hours a 
day, you are in effect beginning at the wrong end. 
Against cruelty, against oppression, against the immode¬ 
rate working of children of too tender an age to judge for 
themselves, I have as firm and fixed an opinion as any 
person; and a measure which shall protect them against 
the rapacity of either master, or parish, or parents, I am 
determined to support. And now. Gentlemen, before I 
stop, I must be permitted to say a few words with re¬ 
ference to the candidates who ask for your support. 
Respecting Mr. Sadler, you will all bear me witness, that 
when I was here last I never uttered a single syllable 
concerning him; I did not think it fair to him, I did not 
think it honourable in me, to make any attack upon him 
when not present. And I can say with perfect truth, 
that never since that gentleman was even spoken of as an 
opponent of mine in the contest for this borough, have I, 
directly or indirectly, said or written anything whatever to 
his prejudice. I believe that those with whom I have had 
most communication in this town will bear me witness that 
I have never even suggested to them in conversation any 
topic of attack on Mr. Sadler. (Cheers, and ‘ It is true/) 
I have seen it stated, indeed, in a Leeds newspaper, that 
an attack on Mr. Sadler in the Morning Chronicle was 
written by me. It is false. A wretched piece of buf¬ 
foonery was put into my hands last night, signed Richard 
Oastler. That gentleman chooses to assert, that I gave 


VALUE OF THE REFORM BILL. 


127 


Mr. Sadler a nick-name. Gentlemen, it is false. Gentle¬ 
men, as I am now standing; side by side with Mr. Sadler 
before you, he having the full advantage of the last word, 
I shall, without the least personal animosity, but in the 
discharge of a public duty, offer a few considerations to 
your attention. I ask you then, Gentlemen, whether it 
be fit that the first choice of this great town, after the 
passing of the Reform Bill, should fall on a determined 
opponent of that Bill ? I have seen it said, Gentlemen, 
that we have now only to look forward, the Reform Bill 
is passed. (A voice in the crowd, f It is not worth a 
curse/) I do not believe that those gentlemen who will 
vote under the Reform Bill, think it is not worth a curse. 
I know it has been said, we ought only to look forward, 
that the past is past, and that there is no reason for re¬ 
curring to the former conduct of any gentleman, that you 
ought only to look to his present professions. Gentlemen, 
this is a most convenient doctrine for those who, after 
having done their best to prevent the victory of the 
people, desire to come in for the fruits of that victory. 
This, I say, is a convenient doctrine for those who, after 
obtaining power under one system by flattering the 
oligarchy, are desirous to obtain power under another sys¬ 
tem by cajoling the people. Assuredly, Gentlemen, in such 
a retrospection there should be nothing vindictive, nothing 
of animosity. We should not look back for the pur¬ 
pose of vengeance, God forbid ; but God forbid, also, that 
we should not look back for the purpose of precaution. In 
what manner are you to judge of those who offer themselves 
to your choice, except by looking at what they have done? 
If a person has not seen any abuse in the old system of 
representation, where is he to see abuse ? How are you 
to expect economy from those who have clung to the very 


128 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


last to tlie system which was the great source of profusion ? 
How are you to expect a just care for the rights and 
liberties of the people from those whose political career 
has been a struggle against those very rights and liberties? 
With respect to the honourable gentleman who now 
offers himself to you, it is not my wish to speak with 
suspicion of his motives, or disrespect for his talents. But 
he came into Parliament by means of a proceeding which, 
more than any other proceeding in my time, excited, and 
ought to have excited, the disgust and horror of the 
people. I say that he was seated in Parliament by the 
ejectments of the Duke of Newcastle. You are aware 
that I speak before Mr. Sadler. Whatever he wishes to 
deny or justify, it will be in his power to deny or justify 
I say that when seated in Parliament by those ejectments, 
I do not find that Mr. Sadler supported even such a 
reform as the transfer of the forfeited franchise of East 
Retford to Birmingham. I find a motion made by Lord 
John Bussell for the lowest reform that could be con¬ 
ceived—which scarcely deserves the name of reform—for 
giving two members each to the great unrepresented 
towns of Manchester, Leeds, and Birmingham, without 
any disfranchisement whatever. I do not find that Mr. 
Sadler supported that motion. I do know that during the 
whole of that great contest in which we have been 
engaged, he firmly and pertinaciously opposed the 
Reform Bill. And, I say without the slightest per¬ 
sonality to Mr. Sadler, speaking as I should of those 
gentlemen for whom I entertain the greatest kindness 
and respect, I say, that if there be, as I firmly believe 
that there are, great abuses still to be corrected, great 
reforms still to be made, I could not, as a consistent man, 
give my confidence to any person who has supported that 


PLACE AND POPULAR REPRESENTATION. 129 


abuse which was the parent of all abuses, and opposed that 
reform from which alone we can derive hope of other 
reforms. Gentlemen, this is what I have to say with 
respect to my honourable opponent. I say without hesi¬ 
tation, that though you might most easily have found in 
the ranks of the Reformers a man better fitted to repre¬ 
sent your wishes and interests than myself, yet I do say 
that as against an opponent of reform, I have a right to 
demand your support. Gentlemen, the only imputation 
against myself which I conceive from the cries I hear in 
the meeting to have gained any credit, is that I have a 
place of 1,200/. a-year. Now, Gentlemen, will you con¬ 
sider this ? I suppose we are all agreed on this point— 
that we must have a Government. Now, Gentlemen, if 
you choose to make a law, or wish a law to be made, that 
all persons who hold offices should hold those offices 
gratuitously, consider what you are doing. (A voice in 
the crowd, “You shan’t sit in Parliament.”) That is 
another question. I believe you will all agree with me 
that if the people of Leeds should send a placeman to 
Parliament, public liberty will be a greater gainer by such 
a connection than the Administration. I believe that it 
is desirable that the Legislature and the executive govern¬ 
ment should be united in this way. I have no fear for 
the result when you have popular constituent bodies, when 
you have none but efficient places, and when such places 
are only paid according to that rate by which labour of 
the same kind is and must be remunerated in the present 
state of society. If a law were to be made enacting that 
the public service should be gratuitous, consider what 
would be the effect. The offices of State would be exclu¬ 
sively occupied by proprietors, and no avenue would be 
left by which men who spring from the people—and I 


130 THE PUBLIC LIFE OP LORD MACAULAY. 

spring from the people—as a distinguished statesman of 
the present day said, I have always stood and always will 
stand by my order; and I do say that if you make the 
regulation that no man shall hold office except he supports 
it out of his private fortune, no man who has not a large 
private fortune can be a member of Government. Under 
such a regulation we should never have seen such men as 
Lord Brougham, such men as Mr. Fox taking office. I 
put it to the people of England whether it is their wish to 
be governed by governments in which there shall be no 
democratic mixture; in which there shall be no men who 
have sprung from the people; whether the payment of 
4000/., 5000/., or 6000/. a-year is not cheap compared 
with the effect of having no man in office who had not 
3000/. or 4000/. a-year of his own? Bely upon it, all 
attempts to take away just and reasonable remuneration 
from public servants have an effect opposed to public 
liberty and to democracy. With respect to the particular 
office that I hold, I can only say, that during the year 
now coming, it will be one of the most efficient offices of 
government; circumstances have given it an importance 
quite disproportioned to its ordinary importance. That 
great question, so interesting to trade and humanity, 
connected with the Charter of the East India Company 
comes on next Session of Parliament, and vast interests 
connected with the prosperity of England, and of no place 
more than of the town of Leeds, depend on the decision 
of that question. You are aware that there live in India 
under our government a hundred millions of people, for 
whose happiness we are answerable both before God and 
man. And I must say that there is no office on which at 
the present moment lies a heavier responsibility than on 
that which is called to deliberate upon and carry forward 


EQUAL TO EITHER FATE. 


131 


the measures relative to India. As one gentleman called 
out that the people of England are paying me 1200/. a-year, 
I beg to inform him that from the people of England I 
receive nothing. The Board of Control is paid by the 
East India Company. I allow, Gentlemen, that if the 
remuneration be unreasonable, it is as unjust to lay the 
burden on our subjects in India as on the people of 
England; but before gentlemen make the situation which 
I hold the topic of invective either in speaking or 
in writing, it might be as well if they would ascertain, 
first, the nature of the office; secondly, the amount of the 
salary; and thirdly, the source from which that salary 
proceeds. Gentlemen, I do not wish to detain you 
further. Gentlemen, I feel most deeply impressed with 
the kind reception you have given me. If you shall think 
fit to entrust me with the great charge of representing 
your interests in Parliament, I will, to the best of my power, 
discharge that most faithfully, so that when the time shall 
arrive, when I shall return it to your hands, I may be 
able to look upon you without shame. If, Gentlemen, you 
shall think fit to send me back into retirement, I shall 

receive-1 have no reason, Gentlemen, to say that the 

service of the public is a thankless service. I have 
received from several places besides Leeds the offer to 
make me a candidate: but I have declined them all, 
resolved to stake on your favour my chance of remaining 
in public life. If you shall reject me, I shall return again 
to my fireside and to my books with perfect contentment ; 
and I am sure of this, that I shall never lose the satisfac¬ 
tion which must attend the consciousness that, during 
my short public life, I have at least meant and en¬ 
deavoured well.” 


K. 2 



132 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


The following remarks are interesting on Church property 
and on taxes on knowledge. 

“ In my opinion part of the Church revenues is private 
property and part public property. An advowson which 
has come by purchase or inheritance into the hands of an 
individual, seems to me just as much his property as his 
house. It may be taken from him for public purposes 
just as his house may be taken from him, in order to 
make a canal or a railroad, but as in the case of his house, 
so of his advowson, full compensation ought to be given. 
There are, however, if I am rightly informed very few 
advow r sons of this kind in Ireland. The revenues of 
bishops, of deans, and chapters of benefices to which the 
Crown nominates are in my opinion strictly public pro¬ 
perty and may without injustice to any human being, be 
applied by the Legislature to public purposes as soon as 
the existing interests expire. Almost all the Church pro¬ 
perty of Ireland is of this latter kind. The revenues of 
the Church of Ireland are therefore in my judgment public 
property. [Mr. Macaulay to Mr. Smithson], You refer 
particularly to the taxes on knowledge. ‘ If/ say you, 
f your mind is made up for abolition why not say so ? 9 I 
will most willingly say so. My mind is made up for the 
abolition of those taxes. But I will not positively pledge 
myself, to vote for or to bring forward a motion for their 
abolition ; and I think that I can easily show you, why I 
refuse to give such a promise. You are aware that a 
motion was made, a few weeks ago on this very subject; 
it was made by Mr Bulwer, and supported by Mr. Hume, 
I was then out of Parliament having vacated my seat, by 
accepting Sir James Mackintosh’s place at the India 
Board. Mr. Bulwer and Mr. Hume were desirous, I 
believe, of completely abolishing these taxes. But was 


TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE. 


133 


the motion a motion of complete abolition?—Not at all.— 
It was merely a motion for commutation, and a commuta¬ 
tion, by no means free from objections. It was proposed 
to substitute a postage on newspapers for the stamp duty. 
This postage would have been a tax on knowledge. Yet I 
think that Mr. Bulwer was not to be blamed for framing 
bis motion thus. He probably conceived that there were 
many persons who disliked the tax, and who were yet 
very unwilling to concur in any measure, which might 
produce a falling off of the revenue. He framed his pro¬ 
position therefore, not according to his views of what 
might in itself be desirable, but according to his views of 
what might be practicable. In my opinion, no member of 
Parliament can be useful to the public, unless he is at 
liberty to exercise this kind of discretion and to shape 
his course with constant reference to existing circum¬ 
stances.” 

After the dissolution the real business of the election 
came off. The candidates were as busy as they could be. 
A great many speeches were delivered, and it is quite 
worth while to rescue from oblivion some of these. On 
one occasion at a meeting in the Free Market, Leeds, Mr. 
Macaulay said :— 

“ Gentlemen, having repeatedly declared to you my 
political opinions both in writing and in speaking here at 
Leeds and in the out-townships, I think it unnecessary 
to go again over the ground already trodden, and to 
repeat at length those opinions I hold and to which alone 
I can appeal as a title to your favour. But, Gentlemen, 
since I had the honour last Tuesday of addressing a large 
and most important assemblage of the electors of Leeds, 
one or two circumstances have occurred, and some infor¬ 
mation has been conveyed to me, which renders it expe- 


134 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

dient that I should advert to particulars which on Tuesday 
last I was not aware had attracted any attention. It is 
only within the last hour I have been informed that cer¬ 
tain persons have employed against me weapons to which 
I am not altogether unaccustomed, which in your cause I 
have often braved, and which in your cause I am ready to 
brave again (Cheers), those of personal calumny. Electors 
of this borough have been assured by persons canvassing 
in the cause of Mr. Sadler, that I am a professed Infidel 
(Cries of “ Shame, Shame ”), to this charge I can only 
answer in those three words in which I have met every 
charge of our enemies, it is false. (Cheers). I can only 
request that any elector to whom similar calumnies may 
be addressed, will have the kindness to ask of those who 
so slander one who has never injured them, on what facts 
they rest their statement. (Cheers). I have written much 
and spoken much, and neither what I have written nor 
what I have spoken has been altogether unnoticed. 
Among my writings are some on subjects closely border¬ 
ing on religious questions, and if it is in the power of any 
persons to find in all that I have written any expression 
of which a Christian need to be ashamed, I admit that 
you will act justly in withholding from me your support. 
This is all the notice I think it necessary to take of a 
calumny which will I am convinced recoil on its authors, 
and prove disgraceful to them alone. I have heard that 
it has also been objected to me I hold office under the 
present Government. To this charge I replied when I 
formerly had the honour of addressing you; if any per¬ 
sons are yet unsatisfied, I have no objection to go more 
fully into this interesting and important question. When 
we now hear the argument made use of by the Tories that 
placemen ought not to be returned by a large constituency, 


SmS OF THE TORIES. 


135 


we naturally inquire what has been their former conduct ? 
I know that Lord Lowther was a Lord of the Treasury, 
and yet the Tories strained every nerve to return him for 
the county of Westmoreland. (Cheers). He subsequently 
became Vice-President of the Board of Trade, yet the 
Tories reckoned it one of their greatest triumphs, that 
they again succeeded, in returning him for Westmoreland 
against Lord Brougham. I know that Mr. Banks held 
the situation I now hold, and yet he was brought forward 
for the votes of a great constituency. I might mention 
others, ten, twenty, or thirty, but I will venture to say 
that never before, never whilst a Tory administration had 
power, did the Tories ever represent it as an objection to 
a candidate that he was in office under the Crown. (Cheers). 
The only difference between myself, Lord Lowther, or 
Mr. Banks is this, that they held office under administra¬ 
tions hostile to the people, and I under an administration 
which, I say it with pride and confidence, has done more 
for the people in two years, than any preceding Govern¬ 
ment did in twenty. (Cheers). I will not, Gentlemen, 
though I hold an office connected with the present Go¬ 
vernment, undertake to defend all the measures pursued 
by them or by any Government, but I ask those who are 
inclined to censure them most severely, in what state they 
found the country when they came into power ? I would 
entreat them to consider calmly whether every circum¬ 
stance which lias been made a topic of charge against 
them, is not a legacy of the Tories. (Cheers). For example 
Gentlemen, look at the Currency Question. We know 
that many persons loudly complain of the evils which the 
present state of the currency has, as they think, produced. 
But who first debased [the currency] imprudently, and then 
restored it imprudently ? The Tories. (Cheers). Who 


136 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


compelled us first to take paper for gold ? who voted that 
paper ? and who at last compelled us to pay gold for 
paper? The Tories! (Cheers). Who prepared the diffi¬ 
culties under which we now labour? First, Mr. Pitt, a 
great leader of the Tories; then, Mr. Percival, another 
leader of the Tories; and lastly, Sir R. Peel, the present 
leader of the Tories. (Cheers). There are difficulties in 
Ireland—fearful, terrible difficulties. If there is any part 
of the administration which it is difficult to defend, it is 
perhaps the administration in Ireland, and on this very 
ground; the country had been reduced to such a state, 
that a good administration of it was impossible. And who 
left Ireland in such a state that even abilities so great and 
eminent as are now employed in the government of that 
country cannot overcome them ? Who persisted in go¬ 
verning the country by means of a faction ? Who upheld 
religious disabilities until the country was driven to the 
point of civil war, and relaxed them only when it was 
doubtful if we should not lose Ireland as we lost America. 
(Cheers). They left it in a moment of danger, but they 
left it too late—when agitation had established its organi¬ 
sation in the country; and when grievances had produced 
discontent, which the mere removal of those grievances 
was not sufficient to remedy ” (Cheers). Mr. Macaulay 
then reviewed the foreign policy of the Tories who gave 
up Poland to Russia, joined Belgium in a forced and 
unnatural connection with Holland, restored the Old 
Bourbon family to France, and left affairs in Greece and 
Portugal in the state in which the present Ministers found 
them. He pronounced a severe condemnation on the 
arrangement in the affairs of Europe, which existed when 
the Tories abandoned the reins of office to the Whigs. 
“ Let us turn our eyes homeward and what do we see ? If 


SINS OF THE TORIES. 


137 


we look at the state of the country, at the distress which 
exists, to whom was it owing ? To the Whigs ? Has their 
advice been pursued? Are we not standing at the end of 
fifty years of Tory rule ? If distress exists then, who is to 
answer for it ? The Tories. (Cheers). Look wdierever we 
will we see the present administration struggling with 
difficulties its predecessors had bequeathed to it. And 
what, Gentlemen, has been the magnanimous conduct of 
their predecessors ? They clung to power to the very last, 
till at length it became evident that the continuance of 
their power, would be, the dissolution of all society. Then 
at length, when every man in England who had anything 
to lose—and which of us has not something to lose ? began 
to look around him with terror and dismay, all around us 
our foreign alliances breaking up—when there was immi¬ 
nent danger of a general European war,—when Belgium 
had separated from Holland, and France had gone through 
a revolution, and Ireland was approaching to anarchy,— 
when London was in su.ch a situation that the King could 
not pass through it to dine with his citizens; when the 
southern counties were lighted up night after night with 
the fires of barns and houses—then the Tories fled from 
office. In that state of extreme disorder, the most dark and 
terrible time I ever witnessed in my life, when every man 
who awoke in the morning feared that something dreadful 
would occur before night—and when he laid down at night 
trembled for the news of the morning,—when the country 
was in such a state that to remain at the head of affairs 
was the most dangerous place in it,—then it was they left 
to the Whigs to put out the fires their evil policy had 
kindled, and to repair the distress and disorder which they 
had occasioned. (Loud Cheers). Such, gentlemen, was the 
state of England when the Whigs took office. I venture 


138 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOPD MACAULAY* 


to say that at no time had there been so great a want of 
sympathy between the people and the Government. What 
is the case now ? How has the Ministry redeemed the 
pledges it gave ? I need not ask you. They have not 
been in power two years—and now the people of Leeds 
are meeting to determine their choice of Members of 
Parliament. (Loud cheers). To this administration I have 
attached myself, in confidence that its future conduct will 
be, as its past conduct has been, wise, honourable, and 
popular, and because it will, I believe, follow up the great 
reform in the representation, by reforming the other parts 
of the State. (Cheers). Should my hope in this respect be 
realised, I shall firmly stand by the Ministry. Should I 
lose that hope, I shall, with many feelings of pain, on 
account of warm friendships, and of what those Ministers 
have done for their country, yet without hesitation, sepa¬ 
rate myself from them/ 5 (Cheers). Mr. Macaulay con¬ 
cluded by expressing his opinions on Colonial Slavery and 
the persecutions of the Missionaries in the West Indies. 

Mr. Macaulay said that question reminded him of an 
assertion made in a pamphlet published in this town, but 
which had been so effectually answered as not to need further 
reply, that he had held the office of Commissioner of 
Bankrupts with a salary of 800/. a-year. He had held 
that office, but with a salary of 300/. not 800/. a-year. 
Lord Brougham 5 s Bankruptcy Court Bill abolished that 
office without giving him any compensation. He, Mr. 
Macaulay, voted for that Bill (The loudest applause). And 
he would now say, what, but for this question, he should 
not have said—that there were points in the Bankruptcy 
Court Bill of which he did not approve, and that he only 
refrained from stating those points because an office of his 
own was at stake. (Loud cheers). He nevertheless thought 


INTELLIGENCE AND LOVELINESS OF LEEDS. 139 

the Bill on the whole a great improvement of the old 
system. (Cheers). 

In answer to a question, Mr. Macaulay said, he thought 
no one could doubt what must be the opinion of a person 
who had supported Parliamentary Reform on this question. 
It would be absurd indeed for any man to hold that the 
people of Leeds ought to have a share in the government 
of the Empire, in the government of India, of St. Helena, 
of the West Indies, and Canada, and not to have a share 
in the government of their own town. (Loud cheers). He 
had not a doubt that in a very short period a complete 
revolution of our municipal system must take place. 
(Cheers). He would not say this year or the next, because 
there was such a vast multiplicity of questions pressing on 
the attention of Ministers; but it was his decided opinion 
that there should be a municipal constitution giving 
powers to the people quite as efficient as the representative 
constitution. 

On another occasion he said :—“ If I had been here 
merely as a spectator, merely as a traveller passing through 
this great community, accustomed as I am to the squalid 
misery, the dependence, and I may say the comparative 
stupidity, which I regret to know characterises the agri¬ 
cultural population of that part of the country in which I 
have generally resided, I could not but be struck by 
seeing the intelligence and activity of the population 
around me. It is impossible for any person to go through 
this community, and to see all around him the signs of 
intelligence and activity in spite of those labours of which 
we have heard so much, and which in some respects I doubt 
not require proper regulation; to see the vigour of the 
men, the beauty of the women, the vigour and spright¬ 
liness, and high spirits of the children, without a heartfelt 


140 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 


and exquisite gratification. (Cheers). But if the mere 
sight of this would excite gratification in a passing spec¬ 
tator, with what feelings of delight, pride, and gratitude 
must I have passed through the scenes of yesterday and 
to-day, when I have seen myself surrounded by a great 
population, who solely on public grounds have received 
me with expressions of kindness and cordiality, for which 
I feel it can scarcely ever be in my power to make an 
adequate return.” We can only give another extract.— 
“ I have never during the greatest excitement of the con¬ 
test for the Reform Bill, held out to any class of people, 
the hope that by merely giving members to Leeds and 
Manchester, and merely taking members from Old Sarum 
and Gatton, we should at once put an end to distress, at 
once place the community in a situation different from 
that in which it has lately stood. The fact is that the 
operation of laws and the operation of all government, is 
not like the operation of magic, but of diet and slow 
regimen. There was in London a famous surgeon (Mr. 
Abernethy), of whom I remember hearing, that an old 
gentleman from the country, who had been long indulging 
in excess in eating and drinking, and who thereby found 
his digestion dreadfully injured, applied to him for relief. 
Mr. Abernethy inquired into his mode of living; he heard 
that he drank so much spirits before he got up in the 
morning, and so much before he went to bed at night, and 
that he ate and drank so much in the day time; after 
which he told him that he would not set him right with¬ 
out a year’s attention to diet and regimen. ( What,’ said 
the man, ‘ are you a great doctor, I thought I had only to 
come to you, and you give me some physic to take which 
w r ould set me right directly.’ f You rascal/ said Mr. 
Abernethy, £ do you go burning your bowels out for fifty 


BOARD OF CONTROL. 


141 


years and then come to me to set you right in a minute. 
(Much laughter). We, Gentlemen, have been under a 
system of abuse for fifty years and we cannot expect to 
have our distresses remedied in a day. Nothing is easier 
than to pretend that a man has got a pill which will cure 
the disease in a moment; but this is all a quackery; the 
real physician of the state is he who cures by regimen— 
not an advertising physician, but a person of experience 
who feels the pulse, and inquires the cause of disease in 
order that he may apply the remedy. (Cheers). I look on 
the Factory Bill, though I admit the propriety of regula¬ 
ting the labour of children, as a quack medicine. I say 
without the least scruple, that to tell a man that he may 
have ten hours’ work and twelve hours’wages, is the same 
thing as to tell him that by swallowing a certain pill, he 
would get rid of all diseases of thirty years continuance. 
(Cheers). Therefore, though I have declared and again 
declare myself friendly to a measure for limiting the 
labour of children, I will not agree to rash measures, which 
would drive the cloth trade from this country to other 
countries, which would lower your wages or altogether 
deprive you of work, and thus aggravate every distress 
you now endure.' 11 

In the course of the election he was advanced from the 
post of Commissioner to that of Secretary to the Board of 
Control. His salary was consequently increased to 1800/. 
a-year instead of 1200/. Of course bis enemies did not 
neglect to reiterate the outcry about placemanship. The 
feuds of the election culminated on the nomination and 
polling days. The speeches which he delivered on these 
occasions are to be found in Mr. YizetelVs edition. On 
the place of nomination, he was proposed by Mr. Marshall, 
senior, the father of the other candidate. The town clerk 


142 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

went through the form of reading the Bribery Act, but 
the worthy functionary was quite inaudible. When Mr. 
Sadler addressed the electors, he was interrupted by the 
opposite band striking up with great vigour. When Mr. 
Macaulay’s turn came round he was obliged to take off his 
hat and make a polite bow, and say that he should reserve 
his remarks till another occasion. Among the amenities 
of the scene, there was displayed on a banner a huge 
skeleton holding the “ Anatomy Bill ” which Mr. Macaulay 
had supported. There was another banner, especially 
offensive to the supporters of Mr. Marshall. It was a 
scene in “ Water Lane,’"’ depicting the candidate’s manu¬ 
factory. It is about five o’clock on a rough winter 
morning, the snow is on the ground, and miserable half- 
clad wretches are crowding to the hated portals. Nor 
was this all. A fearful riot commenced. Brickbats and 
bludgeons were freely used in every direction. Eleven 
unfortunate people were so badly used that they were 
obliged to be carried to the Infirmarv. The Blues de- 
nounced the Yellows for these atrocities, and the Yellows 
denounced the Blues. One side published the affidavits 
of some of the wounded, and the other side declared that 
the wounded people were their own men. Of course there 
was the usual cry about “The Hole and Corner proceed¬ 
ings.” Among the humours of the election we ought not 
to leave omitted that a Quaker gentleman published a 
letter to Macaulay, “ theewg and thouing him 99 with 
great freedom and severity, and one of the dissenting 
lights of the day gave a sort of certificate of Mr. Macau¬ 
lay’s merits, which was paraded with considerable effect. 

Mr. Macaulay skilfully took advantage of the row to 
represent it as the work of the opposite parties, and issued 
the following address : 


M.P. FOR LEEDS. 


143 


“ Gentlemen, —With feelings of the warmest pleasure, 
I congratulate you on the result of this day’s poll. An 
attempt has been made to introduce into Leeds, all the 
corruption and intimidation which disgraced the elections 
of Newark; and an ingenious malevolence has employed 
against us arts, such as even Newark never witnessed. 
Slander and hypocrisy, threats and caresses, bludgeons 
and gin, have done their worst; and the result is that the 
cause of Reform has triumphed in this great community 
by means worthy of such a community and of such a 
cause. I have but one word to add. Let not the advan¬ 
tage which you have obtained induce you to relax in your 
exertions. Persist. Be firm. Be vigilant. Remember 
how desirable it is that your success should be complete 
and decisive. Be content with nothing short of a final 
victory over those who, having long misgoverned you by 
means of a vicious representative system, are now attempt¬ 
ing to misgovern you by means of that franchise which 
you have at length acquired in despite of them. 

“ I am Gentlemen, your faithful 
“ humble servant, 

“ T. B. Macaulay.” 

Dec . 12 th, 1832. 

At the conclusion of the poll the numbers were— 

Mr. Marshall . . . .2012 

Mr. Macaulay . . . . 1984 

Mr. Sadler .... 1596 

Majority over Mr. Sadler 388 

Our victorious candidate then issued the following brief 
address : 



144 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


TO THE ELECTORS OF THE BOROUGH OF LEEDS. 

“ Gentlemen., —I have now the honour of being your 
Representative in the first Reformed Parliament. It is, I 
hope, unnecessary for me to assure you that the power 
which I owe to your choice, shall be industriously 
and honestly employed for your benefit. To those who 
with a firmness, and public spirit, almost unparalleled in 
the History of Elections, have supported my cause, I owe 
the warmest personal gratitude. To all of you diligent 
and faithful service. The victorious and the vanquished 
party are equally now, my constituents, and I pledge to 
you my word, that no inhabitant of Leeds, who has occa¬ 
sion for my assistance, shall ever discover from my conduct 
towards him, that I know whether he voted for, or against 
me. “ I am Gentlemen, 

“ Your faithful and obliged servant, 

“ T. B. Macaulay.” 

The election Was wound up by the chairing of the suc¬ 
cessful candidates, which the Yellows declared was very 
splendid, and the Blues denounced as beggarly in the 
extreme. This being done, each party betook themselves 
to public dinners with great enthusiasm, in which the 
Whigs extolled their “ superhuman member,” as he was 
sometimes called, more than ever; and the Tories took to 
aiding and comforting Mr. Sadler, and denouncing fierce 
battle whenever they should have another chance. In the 
mean time we suppose the unhappy people in the Infirmary 
with their broken heads and bruised limbs were either 
exultant or depressed by their respective failure or success, 
or perhaps in the silence of their wards had leisure to 
reflect upon the vanity that attends even a General 
Election. 


CHAPTER VI. 


THE REFORMED PARLIAMENT. 

The first session of the Reformed Parliament com¬ 
menced on the 29th of January, 1833. All over the 
country the elections were decidedly favourable to the 
Whig Ministry. They outnumbered their opponents in 
the proportion of five to one. Veteran politicians would 
see in this great preponderance of numbers just reason 
for alarm. It was the kind of victory which would ruin 
the victors. A working majority of thirty or forty is a 
Prime Minister’s happy state of things. From the very 
first day of the meeting of Parliament the popularity of the 
Government began to wane. The attention of the whole 
nation was concentrated upon St. Stephen’s. The most 
brilliant impossibilities were expected from the altered 
state of the Constitution. At an early period it must 
have become obvious to the Ministry of Earl Grey that 
they could only gratify their Radical allies, and satisfy 
their highly-wrought expectations, by persisting in a 
course of revolutionary legislation. It will ever be to the 
credit of the Grey Administration, that while passing a 
very large amount of memorable legislation they firmly 
resisted the sweeping and unconstitutional violence to 
which they were invited by their partisans of extreme 
opinions. In this they were steadily supported by the 


146 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

scattered Conservative remnant slowly gathering under 
Sir Robert Peel. 

Before, however, Parliament met, an attempt was made 
to involve Macaulay with his constituents. A paragraph 
had appeared in the Leeds Intelligencer , attributing to 
Mr. Macaulay the basest and most impudent avowal of a 
preference of interest to principle in regard to the question 
of Colonial Slavery. It was imputed to him that “on 
being requested by Mr. Buxton to support one of his 
propositions in a more marked manner than as a mere 
member of the House of Commons, the learned gentle¬ 
man^ unexpectedly cooled; and being pressed closer, 
replied, “ I am a young man, rising in the world of 
politics, and would you have me ruin my prospects for 
the sake of the Slave question?” The Liberal organ, 
the Mercury, pronounced this story to be “one of the 
most audacious and flagrant falsehoods ever invented, 
as, indeed, every person must have done who did not 
believe Mr. Macaulay to be both knave and idiot.” It 
demanded the authority on which this wretched slander 
was propagated, as “ the Intelligencer had said ‘ the state¬ 
ment comes to us in no roundabout way, from a gentle¬ 
man to whom Mr. Buxton stated it/ Not the slightest 
notice of our demand or our contradiction appears in 
Thursday's paper.” 

One of Mr. Macaulay's Leeds friends wrote to that 
gentleman, and called his attention to that paragraph in 
the Intelligencer. The following is his reply, inclosing a 
letter from Mr. Fowell Buxton, giving the most explicit 
contradiction to the calumny. 


THE.INTELLIGENCER LIES. 


147 


“ London, Jan. 1st, 1832. 

“ My dear Sir,— On receiving your letter I went to a 
coffee-house, got a sight of the Leeds Intelligencer, tran¬ 
scribed the absurd slander about which you wrote to me, 
and sent it to Mr. Buxton. I inclose the answer, which 
will neither surprise you nor shame the author of the lie. 
You advise me to call on the Editor of the Intelligencer to 
give up his authority. The call would be quite useless. 
He has no authority to give up. The story is on the face 
of it an impudent invention. It is not, as you are aware, 
the first, or second, or third, or fourth calumny in which I 
have detected him; and I have no doubt he will on this 
occasion, as on former occasions, give himself all the airs 
of the injured party. I earnestly hope that my friends at 
Leeds do not expect me to take the trouble of refuting 
every lie which this writer may think fit to publish. To 
do so would he the business of a life; and, as a member 
for a great town, and Secretary to an important Depart¬ 
ment, I have other and better employment. 

“ Believe me, ever, my dear Sir, 

i( Your faithful servant, 

“ T. B. Macaulay.” 

The following was Buxton’s letter:— 

“ My dear Macaulay,— The extract from the Leeds 
newspaper surprises me as much as yourself. If you take 
the trouble to notice it, I must beg you will state that you 
have my authority for saying that I not only disclaim the 
conversation, but that I never heard you express a senti¬ 
ment which could be tortured into a willingness to sacrifice 
the Slave question in exchange for f official preferment/ 
Your vote last May for my resolution, and against the 


148 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


amendment proposed by Government at the time when 
you held office, might, I should have thought, have saved 
you from the possibility of such an imputation. 

“ Believe me, very truly yours, 

“ T. F. Buxton. 

“ Cromer, Dec. 30 th, 1832.” 

When the Parliament was opened by Commission, the 
Ministry, justly considering that in a House of 300 new 
members the direction of an experienced guide was pecu¬ 
liarly necessary, determined once more to put Sir Charles 
Sutton into nomination, who had for so many years filled 
the chair with distinguished ability. This was very credi¬ 
table to the Ministry, as Sir Charles was not one of their 
supporters, and had opposed the Reform Bill. They 
hoped to propitiate the Radicals by the fact that his con¬ 
tinuance as Speaker would save the country the expense of 
his retiring pension. The malcontents retorted with more 
ingenuity than accuracy, that he would be entitled to both 
salary and pension. They had the greatest objection to a 
Reformed Parliament being presided over by an unre¬ 
forming Speaker. Mr. O’Connell denounced the propo¬ 
sition as “ another instance of the paltry truckling of the 
present administration.” The law officers of the Crown 
having set right the misconception about the pension, and 
Mr. Littleton, the other gentleman nominated, having 
declared that his name was used without his consent. Sir 
Charles Sutton was elected by a very large majority. This 
was the first instance of dissension between the Ministe¬ 
rialists and one section of their supporters. 

That dissension became more marked and violent in the 
debate on the Address. In the Royal Speech a hope was 
expressed that the House would entrust the King with 


HOUSE OP COMMONS. 


149 


such powers as might be necessary for maintaining order 
in Ireland, and for preserving and strengthening the union 
between that country and Great Britain. The answer to 
the Address was seconded by Mr. John Marshall, Mr. 
Macaulay's colleague for Leeds. The new member must 
have been rather nervous, as he was almost inaudible to 
the reporters. The Government was prepared at an early 
day to bring forward a Coercion Bill. No other course 
was open to Ministers unless they should determine to 
abdicate all their Governmental functions in Ireland. 
Emancipation and Reform appeared to have done no good 
for that unhappy land. Agitation and violence had 
reached a height unparalleled in a civilised age and 
country. Within the last four years crime had increased 
sixteen fold. The number of predial crimes in Ireland for 
last year was nine thousand, and appeared on the increase. 
These were the circumstances under which Mr. O'Connell 
had the hardihood to oppose the Address, which he charac¬ 
terised as “ bloody, brutal, unconstitutional;" and moved, 
as an amendment, that “ the House do resolve itself into 
a Committee of the whole House." Then there ensued a 
memorable debate of nine nights' duration. The amend¬ 
ment was seconded by Mr. Cobbett, who on the first night 
took up his position not merely on the Ministerial side, but 
at the very head of the Treasury Bench, to the right of 
the Ministry. After a few words from a gentleman, who 
having unconsciously placed himself in an unusual part of 
the House excited some amusement, up sprung the Rupert 
of debate, Mr. Stanley, who never hesitated to face and 
beard the demagogue. The adjournment was moved by a 
gentleman who was beginning to make some reputation as 
a literary man, Mr. E. L. Bulwer, on whom, consequently, 
it devolved to re-open the debate the following night. 


150 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

The late Conservative Cabinet Minister was rather bitter 
on the Tories, and was disposed to join in the cry of 
“ Justice for Ireland.” He would quote the honourable 
member for Leeds to show that coercion would not make a 
people peaceable. “ The member for Leeds on the third 
reading of the Reform Bill made use of those words, f that 
discontent which the great body of the people think they 
have reason to entertain cannot be put down by penal 
restrictions. Measures of coercion and severity have 
failed for other Governments: they failed Cromwell; 
they failed James II. against the bishops; and Pitt 
against Horne Tooke ; they failed Lord Castlereagh ; and 
they will fail every Government which shall attempt to 
stifle the voice of the people of England without redressing 
their grievance/ For England read Ireland ! Was not 
what was applicable for one people applicable for another ? 
Where there are extraordinary grievances the only extra¬ 
ordinary power you should ask for is that of immediate 
redress.” 

This allusion speedily brought up Mr. Macaulay. The 
speech he delivered was one of great eloquence, and pro¬ 
duced an extraordinary effect. The amount of preparation 
bestowed on these speeches has been exaggerated. This 
• very able one must have been almost extempore. Ac¬ 
cording to his own version of his speech—“ Last night I 
thought it would not be necessary for me to take any part 
in the present debate, but the .appeal which has this 
evening been made to me by my honourable friend the 
member for Lincoln, forces me to rise* .... The 
antithesis (redress before coercion) is framed with all the 

* The Times gives this rather differently. Mr. Macaulay had not in¬ 
tended when the discussion on the Address commenced yesterday evening 
to take an active part in it. He confessed, however, in the course of the 


THE MEMBER FOR DUBLIN. 


151 


ingenuity which is characteristic of my honourable friend's 
style; but I cannot help thinking that on this occasion 
his ingenuity has imposed on himself, and that he has not 
sufficiently considered the meaning of the pointed phrase 
he has used with so much effect."” In the course of his 
argument he made a great philippic against O’Connell: 
“ He shrunk back : he skulked away.” The following is 
the remarkable and effective conclusion of the speech: 
“ The clamour which the learned member for Dublin is 
endeavouring to excite against Earl Grey’s Government 
cannot be of much moment compared with that which Earl 
Grey has already withstood in order to place the learned 
gentleman where he is. (Loud cheers.) Though a compar¬ 
atively young member of the Whig party, I think I can 
take it upon me to speak their sentiments on this head. 
I therefore undertake to tell the learned gentleman, that 
the same spirit and moral courage which sustained the 
Whigs when out of office in their conflict with bad laws, 
will sustain them in office in their conflict with the enemies 
of good laws. (Continued cheers.) They were not deterred 
by clamour from making the learned gentleman not less 
than a British subject; he may be assured they will never 
suffer him to be more. (Deafening cheers, which lasted 
at least a minute.) I stand here as the member of a 
numerous and flourishing community wdio have conceived 
that the service of the people is not incompatible with the 
service of the Crown, and who have sent me here, to use 
the word of the writ of summons, to advise His Majesty 
upon certain weighty and urgent affairs concerning the 
state and defence of the kingdom. In this capacity, and 


debate, lie did feel anxious to address a few words to the House ; and now 
that he had been personally alluded to by the lion, member for Lincoln, 
he felt he could no longer remain silent. 


152 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


in the performance of this duty, I am prepared to vote 
with the Address moved in answer to His Majesty’s 
Speech, particularly that part of it which pledges Parlia¬ 
ment to preserve the legislative union between England 
and Ireland inviolate—a union on which depended the 
well-being of the British Empire.” (Loud cheers.) He 
was succeeded in the debate by Mr. Sheil, who sat in the 
House as member for the county of Louth. He had 
entered Parliament the year after Mr. Macaulay. The 
two are not without their points of resemblance. They 
were unquestionably the two most eloquent rhetoricians in 
the House, and from the first Mr. Sheil had conciliated a 
good opinion not easily accorded to a rhetorician who is 
also an Irish member. Sheil was followed in the debate 
by Mr. Charles Grant, Macaulay’s chief at the Board of 
Control, who alluded to his subordinate’s “ overwhelming 
arguments.” The allusion to his Leeds constituency was 
not passed over in silence. Old Cobbett spoke of giving 
“ a wholesome lesson to the hon. member for Leeds, who 
boasted so unmeasurably last night of the extraordinary 
and universal prosperity of his constituents”— 

Here Mr. Macaulay interrupted —“ I never said one 
word on the subject.” 

Cobbett had exaggerated, but Macaulay certainly made 
a slip in his memory. “ Not one word?” exclaimed Cobbett. 
“ Why, did not the honourable member declare that he 
stood the representative of a prosperous and flourishing 
community?- And if these words have any meaning, do 
not they express great prosperity on the part of his con¬ 
stituents ? ” The cheers that arose indicates that the 
speaker made a decisive hit. Mr. Buthven, the member 
for Dublin, also declared that “skulking” was an 
unbecoming word. “ If the honourable gentleman should 


153 


THE “ RUPERT OF DEBATE/’ 

use the word again, he would get a lesson that would 
prevent him from repeating it a third time.” 

A bill for the Suppression of Disturbances in Ireland 
speedily passed through the House of Lords, without any 
opposition. The case was very different in the Commons. 
On the 27tli of February Lord Althorp proposed that 
the bill should be read a first time. It was one of the 
most extraordinary scenes ever known in the House. 
Lord Althorp's speech was a tame affair, and failed to 
produce an impression on the House that the extraordi¬ 
nary powers demanded were absolutely necessary. The 
speech was coldly received. But late in the evening, 
Stanley (Lord Derby) arose and made a speech that 
extends over six columns of the Times, and using the 
same facts and arguments, literally carried the House by 
storm. “It was,” says Mr. Torrens McCullagh, “ per¬ 
haps, the most complete and sudden re-animation of a 
whole party with his own spirit by one man, not recog¬ 
nised or claiming to be its leader, that has been witnessed 
in our time.” The newspapers speak of the loud and 
long-continued rounds of cheering that accompanied the 
conclusion. CPConnell attempted an explanation, but the 
House manifested a disapprobation in a way hitherto 
unremembered in Parliament that must have quelled for 
a moment the superb audacity of the Liberator. The 
debate was continued next night by Mr. Sheil, in a 
very eloquent speech. Mr. Macaulay replied in a very 
able speech, which, horrever, he has not included in his 
own edition. Certainly the chief honours of the debate 
were gathered by Mr. Stanley. The bill speedily passed. 

The Ministry having disgusted their tried allies, by Avay 
of counterpoise, brought in a bill that should restore their 
popularity, for the reduction of the Irish Church Establish- 


154 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


ment. By this bill ten bishoprics out of twenty-two were 
to be swept way. Lord Althorp, in bringing forward 
the bill,, explained that the revenues of the Irish Church 
which were popularly set down at 3,000,000/., were not in 
reality 800,000/. Out of this revenue, by a tax upon 
bishoprics and livings, about 69,000/. a year w r ould be 
gained to be applied to the abolition of Church cess, the 
so-called tax for maintaining churches, and meeting the 
expenses of divine service. There would also be an 
accumulating fund for the augmentation of poor livings. 
In regard to the lands attached to bishoprics, the bishops 
should be bound to grant leases for ever at a corn rent 
upon the tender of six years’ purchase. The quit-rent to 
the bishops was 100,000/. a year; the real value to the 
occupant 600,000/. Thus there would be a fund of three 
millions quite at the service of the State. 

The bill was not at all acceptable to the Conservatives, 
who remembered that with the spoliation of Church pro¬ 
perty commenced the Revolution in France; nor yet to 
the Radicals, who were of the opinion that the measure did 
not go far enough. O'Connell denounced Lord Althorp's 
estimate of the revenues as a “ base delusion.” The bill 
being read a first time on the 13tli, Ministers precipitately 
fixed the second reading for the 15th, despite the expostu¬ 
lations of Sir Robert Peel and his friends. When the day 
for the second reading came on, the Government, after all, 
was obliged to discharge the order of the day for it, having 
egregiouslv committed the blunder of not originating it, 
as a money bill, in a Committee of the whole House. 
Mr. Macaulay made a speech on the occasion of the 
House going into Committee. His complete answer on 
the subject was not, however, delivered till the debate in 
the Maynooth year. They will therefore be best reviewed 


RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE WITH THE EAST. 155 


in a later page of this work. The House of Lords, in 
Committee, passed an amendment, that the tax on the 
clergy should be applied solely to the augmentation of 
small livings; and the Government having taken time to 
consider whether they should fling up the bill or fling up 
office, concluded to do neither, and the bill was passed in 
its amended form. 

The Charter of the East India Company expired this 
year, as did also the Charter of the Bank, which last, 
without much difficulty, and in an improved form, was 
renew r ed. In 1813 there had been a great inroad made 
upon the commercial monopoly enjoyed by the Com¬ 
pany; and since that time there had been a persistent 
agitation on the subject. It was urged that to fling open 
the East would provide a boundless market for English 
goods, and for us largely cheapen the productions of Asia. 
In the Travels of Bishop Heber, published about this time, 
the growing taste of the natives for English exports and 
manufactures is pointed out; and he drew favourable 
anticipations of the effect of throwing open the trade. 
The good Bishop was right in his prognostications, w r hich 
had their share in determining the course of legislation ; 
for in twenty years the amount of British exports to India 
and China more than tripled. We briefly notice the 
course of legislation, joining in the general regret that 
Indian subjects are so little familiar to the English public 
or the English Parliament. It had been one of the last 
public acts of Mr. Huskisson to present a strong petition 
from the merchants of Liverpool, praying for the removal 
of all restrictions on the trade with India and China. In 
February, 1830, Lord Ellenborough in the House of 
Lords, and Sir Robert Peel in the House of Commons, 
obtained Committees for a full investigation of the subject. 


15G 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


The dissolution of Parliament, that followed on the death 
of George IV., disappointed their efforts; and the dissolu¬ 
tion of the new Parliament disappointed the efforts of Lord 
EllenborouglPs successor at the Board of Control, Mr. 
Charles Grant. In the January of 1832, the reappointment 
of the Select Committee was obtained. This was divided 
into six sub-committees : 1. Public; 2. Finance, Accounts, 
and Trade; 3. Revenue; 4. Judicial; 5. Military; 6. 
Political. These “ reports ” fill more than 8000 pages of 
close print. As a whole they were highly favourable to 
the Company. The system that united commerce with 
Government had created one vast empire, and had been 
accompanied by many advantages; but, at the same time, 
those reforms which freetraders and political economists 
had so long demanded could no longer be withheld. 
Government was prepared to take action founded on the 
enormous mass of materials which their Committee had 
accumulated for them. We may be sure that the accom¬ 
plished Secretary to the Board of Control had his full 
share of study and trouble in preparing the details of the 
new scheme. The House proceeded by Resolution, a 
precedent which was followed, at the suggestion of Lord 
John Russell, by the Earl of Derby’s Government, in the 
final measure respecting the East India Company. The 
Resolutions were: (1.) That all Her Majesty^ subjects 
should be at liberty to trade with China; (2.) That in 
case the East India Company should transfer to the Crown 
their claims and assets, the Crown should undertake their 
obligations, and pay the Company a certain revenue; (3.) 
That the government of British India should be intrusted 
to the Company under parliamentary conditions and 
regulations. The Resolutions passed both Houses with¬ 
out opposition ; although in the Lords the Earl of Ellen- 


EAST INDIA COMPANY. 


157 


borough declared himself hostile to the whole scheme, as 
being a crude, ill-digested plan, the offspring of unfounded 
theories, formed by men who know nothing, and would 
know nothing, of India. 

A bill founded upon these Resolutions was introduced 
into Parliament as soon as the long negotiation with 
the East India Company was concluded. However, the 
substantial change was, that the East India Company 
should no longer trade, but, in conjunction with the 
Board of Control, confine themselves to the management 
of their territory. The Court of Directors appealed to 
the Court of Proprietors. On the 3rd of May, 1833, a 
General Court was held, somewhat thinly attended con¬ 
sidering the magnitude of the question, for the ballot 
showed only 529 votes, scarcely a fourth part of the pro¬ 
prietors. It was agreed by 477 against a minority of 52, 
that, provided there was a guarantee fund of 2,000,000/. 
for the payment of the dividends, and, if necessary, for 
the capital, the Government plan should be accepted. 

On the second reading of the bill, July 10th, Mr. 
Macaulay spoke on the subject. In many respects it was 
the most remarkable speech he ever delivered. In point 
of length it was the longest. Unfortunately the attend¬ 
ance in the House was very thin; the speech was spoken 
nearly to empty benches; and the reports are meagre in 
the extreme. The speech occupied an hour and three 
quarters in the delivery. The report in Hansard was 
evidently corrected, perhaps furnished, by himself. But 
the Speaker, a very severe judge, declared that upon the 
whole it was the best speech he ever heard in the course 
of his life; and Mr. O’Connell, who spoke in the debate, 
extolled it as one of the masterpieces of the English 
tongue. It is, indeed, a speech of matchless value, and 


158 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOKD MACAULAY. 


ought to be read by the student in connection with the 
articles on Clive and Warren Hastings. With a few 
necessary alterations, it might be quite worth while to 
reprint it as a brief but valuable text-book on important 
Indian matters. 

There was one other speech delivered this session 
relating to a subject with which his own reputation, and, 
in an infinitely greater degree, the reputation of his 
father, is intimately bound up. The year 1833, a veri¬ 
table annus mirabilis, is also celebrated for the settlement 
of the question of West Indian Slavery. The achieve¬ 
ment of their mighty design, and the overcoming of the 
vast obstacles that opposed them, is a wonderful instance 
of what may be accomplished by a band of earnest men 
confiding in the integrity of their motives, the justice of 
their cause, and the favour of Heaven. And yet the 
history of their success affords a warning against mere 
mob feeling, against a popular cry, even when connected 
with a holy cause and with saintly names. On the even¬ 
ing of the 14th of May, good Thomas Fowell Buxton 
prepared to set forth to the House of Commons. It 
was, in the words of his son and biographer, “that 
memorable evening, perhaps the most memorable in his 
life.” He had reached his study door, when, with a better 
feeling than that which would attempt the Virgiliance 
Sortes, he turned back to take a last look at his Bible. 
The sacred volume opened at the beautiful passage in 
Isaiah : “ If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and 
satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise in 
obscurity, and thy darkness be as noon-day; and the 
Lord shall guide thee continually,” &c. Calm and un- 
anxious he remained through the evening on which the 
Government propositions respecting slavery were to be 


STANLEY ON SLAVERY. 


159 


brought forward. He first presented a petition, signed 
by the females of England to the number of 187,000, 
and was only able to place it on the table with the help of 
several members, and amid the laughter and cheers of the 
House. Mr. Stanley, who had exchanged his uneasy 
position of Chief Secretary for Ireland for the office of 
Secretary of State for the Colonies, had in the brief space 
of a month completely mastered the multitudinous details 
of the vast question, and had come down to the House 
that night with certain propositions designed to set it at 
rest for ever. Mr. (afterwards Sir Thomas Fowell) 
Buxton was delighted to find precisely his own senti¬ 
ments expressed with so much force and ability by the 
eloquent scion (and now the head) of the House of Derby. 
He applied to him Cowper’s lines to Mrs. Courtenay :— 

“ My numbers that evening she sung, 

And gave them a grace so divine, 

As only her musical tongue 

Could infuse into numbers of mine. 

1 ‘ The longer I heard, I esteemed 
The work of my fancy the more ; 

And e’en to myself never seemed 
So tuneful a poet before.” 

When Mr. Stanley had concluded his eloquent denun¬ 
ciations of the cruelty of the planters, he brought forward 
the details of his scheme. Slavery was to be abolished, 
but with certain limitations. For a time the slaves were 
to be apprenticed to their former owners; that is to say, 
should work for them three-fourths of the day, and 
receive in return food and clothing. Thus the slave¬ 
owners would retain part of the value of the slaves, and 
for the rest a loan of fifteen millions was to be paid by 
England. There were various other regulations; and 


160 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

though. Mr. Buxton was quite dissatisfied with some par¬ 
ticulars of the scheme, yet, on the whole, he was prepared 
to accept it. The anti-slavery movement had, however, 
reached a pitch of agitation quite beyond the control of 
its leaders. Mr. Buxton was severely blamed by zealous 
abolitionists for conceding the apprenticeship and the 
compensation. The party fell into two sections, of which 
the more extreme attacked “ dear, honest Buxton ” (as 
Mr. Wilberforce calls him) with insolent and ungrateful 
acrimony. The bill passed its second reading, and it 
was understood that the battle should come off in Com¬ 
mittee. On the motion that “ the House resolve itself 
into Committee,” Mr. Macaulay made a speech. He was 
quite in favour of the total abolition of slavery. “ There 
had been fierce and prolonged wars in Europe, but popu¬ 
lation went on augmenting; and fresh life filled up the 
chasms caused by such fields as Leipsic, Borodino, and 
Waterloo. ... In the West India colonies alone 
was found a society in which the number of human beings 
was continually decreasing.” Opposing those “ with 
whom he generally had the happiness to act” (alluding 
here to the extreme abolitionists), he should support the 
compensation clause. In reference to the transition state 
of the negro, he “ confessed he entertained great, and 
in some respects, he feared, insurmountable doubts.” 
Although a member of the Government, it will be perr 
ceived that he was quite prepared to vote against the 
Government on the amendment, and, if necessary, sacri¬ 
fice his place. “ He was aware how freely he had stated 
his opinion on this important question; but he was sure 
that the House would do justice to his motives, which, 
amidst conflicting feelings and opinions, prompted him 
humbly to endeavour to perform his duty.” 


supports mr. buxton’s amendment. 161 

Mr. Buxton had moved an amendment to the effect 
that the apprenticeship should be limited to the shortest 
period necessary for establishing the system of free labour, 
and suggested the term of a year. It was on this occa¬ 
sion that Mr. Macaulay made the above speech. He 
courageously went into the opposite lobby, and voted 
against ministers. The Government proposition was 
carried, but by a majority so narrow that ministers were 
scarcely prepared to insist on its terms, and were willing 
to adopt some modification. Mr. Stanley accordingly 
proposed next day a very considerable diminution in the 
term of apprenticeship. As this alteration would be 
attended with considerable disadvantage to the planter, 
the loan of fifteen millions was commuted into a gift of 
twenty millions; and in this shape the bill which wiped 
away the reproach of slavery from the English name was 
passed. 

An acute and amusing writer, Mr. Anthony Trollope, 
says of this twenty millions —“ It was at best but as 
though we had put down awls and lasts by Act of Par¬ 
liament, and, giving the shoemakers the price of their 
tools, told them they might make shoes as they best could 
without them, and failing any such possibility, they might 
live on the price of their lost articles.” Remembering 
all the arguments, both of a civil and religious nature, 
that brand its own hateful character upon slavery, it may 
be questioned whether the Government proposition which 
Mr. Buxton and Mr. Macaulay opposed might not have 
been the best. Public enthusiasm had also removed the 
matter from the sphere of deliberate legislation, and— 
what is always an unhappy state of affairs—the members 
were overawed by their constituents. The results of 
premature freedom have proved most disastrous in the 

M 


162 ' THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


West Indian islands. Virtually, our Government not 

«/ * 

only abolished slavery, but abolished labour. A state ol 
things was produced in Jamaica which would not for a 
day be tolerated in England. In England labour is com¬ 
pulsory : it is compulsory by the whole network of cir^ 
cumstances and framework of society. If an able-bodied 
man will not work, w r e commit him to prison, and to an 
amount of hard labour which it would be hard to dis¬ 
tinguish from slavery itself. In Jamaica valuable lands 
have gone hack into a state of bush. Grounds which 
were once crowded by the richest productions of nature, 
have once more become a solitary wilderness. While the 
land is lying waste, while trade is being ruined, while 
additional labour is imposed on the less fortunate negroes 
of the Southern States, the Jamaica negro enforces his 
right to idleness by excuse and lying, enjoying at his 
leisure the luscious fruits of the sun that suffice for his 
existence. “No, massa, me weak in me belly; me no 
workee to-day; me no like workee just ’em little 
moment/’ * 

Primarily, the West Indian proprietaries are to blame 
for this great deterioration. Canning had earnestly 
pressed upon the local legislature of the islands his 
plans for the amelioration and abolition of slavery. But, 
however favourably these were received by the English 
House of Commons, they were only greeted with alarm 
and distrust on the side of the colonial legislature. Mr. 
Canning’s resolutions had proposed the entire abolition of 
the lash in the case of females, and fully regulated its 
use in other cases; had forbidden the separation of father, 

* For tlie "West Indian Bill, see Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, 
Annual Register, Sir A. Alison's History of Europe, Memoirs of Foivcll 
Buxton, Trollope's West Indies. 


THE CUKSE OF TOO SUDDEN A BLESSING. 163 


wife, and child; had protected the property of slaves, 
admitted their evidence, facilitated their manumission, 
and had provided for their religious instruction by means 
of a regular ecclesiastical establishment. The colonies 
refused to act upon any such system of limitations, and 
they reaped the result in subsequent insurrection and 
final emancipation. The new system came into operation 
on the 1st of August, 1834. In the universal and 
touching rejoicings among the sable race, it is a day 
much to be remembered. The negroes crowded into the 
churches and chapels as the evening of the last day of 
slavery came on. In the hush and silence of prayer they 
awaited the solemn midnight hour that should make them 
free men, and when twelve sounded, arose in every island 
the song of thanksgiving! In about four years time 
the apprentice plan was abandoned in favour of total 
and unconditional abolition. This was a dangerous and 
hazardous step, the conferring of an immunity from 
labour upon a people utterly untrained to self-reliance 
and self-government. Some gradual steps ought to have 
been adopted which should not release the negro from the 
necessity of obedience to the divine ordinance of earning 
his bread by the sweat of his brow. The European race 
is physically unequal to the endurance of tasks, heat, or 
death-fraught gales, but the negro thrives and prospers 
under the vertical sun, and the most authentic instances 
of the most advanced old age are to be found among 
the West Indian slaves, among whom the great age 
of 180 has been reached. Since the Emancipation 
Act was framed, in obedience to popular impulses rather 
than to clear judgment and unbiassed principles, foreign 
plantations have gained the productions which were 
formerly our own, the number of slaves has been 


164 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

doubled, and the horrors of the middle passage have 
been enhanced. 

Mr. Wilberforce lived to enjoy the great happiness of 
knowing that his measure would be passed, although he 
was not spared till the actual moment of abolition, and 
had no prescient view of the irretrievable mischief that 
would ensue from a measure that did not provide for the 
formation of fixed habits of industry. We may all join 
in his dying fervour —“ Thank God that I should have 
lived to witness a day in which England is willing to give 
twenty millions sterling for the abolition of slaves ! ” 
“Would,” wrote Miss Buxton to Zachary Macaulay, 
“ would that Mr. Wilberforce had lived one fortnight 
longer, that my father might have taken back to him 
fulfilled the task he gave him ten years ago ! ” 

One other measure of this parliament ought to be 
mentioned. Mr. Sadler, though unseated by Mr. 
Macaulay, found a worthy successor in the cause of 
benevolent legislation in Lord Ashley, who brought 
forward a bill for limiting the hours of labour in fac¬ 
tories. The second reading was passed, and a body of 
evidence was adduced before the committee. The pro¬ 
visions of the bill were so altered in favour of the masters 
that Lord Ashley abandoned it to the Chancellor of the 
Exchequer, and ultimately an Act was passed that in some 
degree would tend towards a better state of things. 

Late in the autumn Mr. Macaulay paid a visit to his 

constituents at Leeds. With peculiar pleasure he attended 

a meeting of the Mechanics* Institution there, and turned 

aside from politics to literature. The speech is interesting 
« 

from its anecdotes and personal references. There was 
also a public dinner given, in which he took a rapid 
review of the session. The harmony of the evening was 


VISITS HIS CONSTITUENTS AT LEEDS. 


165 


not entirely unruffled, but the general effect of his visit 
to Leeds must have been highly satisfactory to him; 
and what he said was reprinted in various papers, and 
appears to have excited some amount of general attention 
at the time. 

Mr. Macaulay.—“ Gentlemen,—It is certainly true, as 
the honourable gentleman who has just addressed you has 
said, that calls of public business rendered it very desirable 
for me to leave Leeds last night or early this morning; 
but I could not refuse to enjoy so great a pleasure as that 
of meeting you here. It is a great pleasure, because 
hitherto, as you are well aware, the only occasions on 
which I have ever met any large assembly of the 
people of Leeds, were occasions when the passions were 
roused, the public mind was agitated, and the popu¬ 
lation were engaged in the heat of a political contest, in 
which I might be considered a favourite of one party, and 
viewed with no such kindly feelings by the other. I 
remember an anecdote which was told in the House of 
Commons of the Battle of Talavera, at which, after a 
violent conflict in one part of the line, between an English 
and a French regiment, the day being one of scorching 
heat, they fell back on opposite sides of a brook, and each 
stooped down to drink. The English soldiers carried 
cocoa-nut shells to drink with, and perceiving that the 
French soldiers had no such means of obtaining the water, 

thev handed over to them their cocoa-nuts, and then, after 

«/ 

both sides had refreshed themselves, went to fighting 
again. (Cheers and laughter.) This surely ought to be 
always the case on any question about public education. 
We ought then to throw aside every feeling of party, to 
lend each other our cocoa-nuts, to stop for a time from 


16G THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

the contests of passion, and to drink of those sweet and 
refreshing waters, without either remembering past or 
looking forward to future enmities. (Cheers.) I cannot 
say that I am intimately acquainted either with the history 
of this institution or the machinery of any similar insti¬ 
tution ; hut I know enough of them to know that they are 
calculated to procure great and inestimable good to the 
people of this country. Knowledge is one of the highest 
and most refined pleasures; and on what earthly principle 
the rich should refuse a participation in those pleasures to 
the poor—pleasures at once the cheapest and most pure— 
I cannot conceive. (Cheers.) Having had myself a ver y 
liberal education, and feeling myself to be more than 
ordinarily prosperous in the world, I feel that I owe much 
of the happiness of my life to the pleasures imparted by 
education, and that I should therefore be the most selfish 
and basest of men if I did not desire to extend those 
pleasures to my fellow-countrymen. (Cheers.) It is 
fashionable to say, the poor have not leisure for much 
study; that all knowledge should be deep, or it is useless; 
and then a quotation from Mr. Pope is introduced— 
4 Drink deep or taste not*—and another c shallow draughts 
intoxicate the brain. 5 In the sense in which he used this 
saying, which he borrowed from a classical poet, I 
believe that it is true. It is not desirable, for instance, 
to devote oneself to the fine arts without a prospect of 
arriving at eminence; a middling painter or a middling 
poet is not to be envied, for in these things mediocrity is 
contemptible. But when the question is about the useful 
sciences, it is idle to say that a man, because he cannot 
know a great deal, must know nothing. In these sciences 
I must be content to take my place among the poor; my 
own scientific requirements are very small, and not greater 


SPEECH AT THE MECHANICS* INSTITUTION. 167 

Ilian any industrious mechanic availing himself of the 
advantages of this institution may attain. But though I 
did not carry mathematics far, I should think it dis¬ 
graceful not to be able to work a rule of three sum. 
With regard to all solid knowledge, it is perfectly evident 
a great deal is better than a little, and a little is better 
than none. (Cheers.) I agree with the honourable gen¬ 
tleman who spoke last, it is of the highest importance to 
the peace and good order of society, that w r e should pro¬ 
mote a disposition to acquire useful knowledge among the 
labouring classes of the country. He has truly said that 
knowledge is power, and we may as truly say that know¬ 
ledge is moderation, and knowledge is humanity. (Cheers.) 
I visited Paris a month after the last revolution, and wdiat- 
ever opinions gentlemen may form of the causes of that 
revolution, there was no person in Europe who did not 
feel the highest admiration of the humanity and forbear¬ 
ance with which the victorious multitude conducted them¬ 
selves on that occasion. Not a single drop of blood was 
shed after the victory was won. Seventy or eighty 
thousand people had arms in their hands; there was no 
government in the city, and yet not a single jeweller's 
shop was plundered of the value of a ring or bracelet. 
(Cheers.) I happened to be driven along the street in a 
cabriolet, and entering into conversation with the driver, 
wdio, being an old soldier of Bonaparte, had taken (toge¬ 
ther with all his class) a conspicuous part in the contest 
of the three days, I spoke to him with great approbation 
of the part the multitude had pursued. He w r as much 
Battered with this praise from an Englishman, and he 
said, 4 Ho the English think w^e fought bravely V I replied 
4 Yes, we certainly think that; but that does not surprise 
us, as we always knew the French to be a brave people; 


168 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


but what we admire most is, their noble forbearance after 
the victory; especially when contrasted with the bloody 
massacre of the first revolution/ He said— f It is not 
strange. I remember my father; he was as good as I am, 
but he could not read nor write; he was a kind father,, 
always good to me, but he believed any story that any¬ 
body told him. At one time he believed that we should 
have cheap bread, at another that we should have cheaper 
meat, if they would massacre twenty or thirty members 
of the Convention. But I can read and write, and I know 
well that we could not mend ourselves by robbing all the 
shops in Paris/ This was said to me in the simplest and 
plainest manner by a man who a few days before had arms 
in his hands, and had the power of committing depreda¬ 
tions and every excess. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) This 
is one of the thousand circumstances that might be men¬ 
tioned, but a slight circumstance happening to oneself 
impresses any one more than greater events happening to 
others. I firmly believe that the spread of knowledge is 
the best security for the happiness and peace of a great 
country; for whilst it gives the labouring classes power, 
it gives them the disposition to use that power moderately 
and properly. (Cheers.) I think this institution is an 
excellent one, and the plan for increasing its stability and 
usefulness highly desirable. This is one of the means by 
which the rich of a great community may confer solid 
benefit on the poor without any room for an unworthy 
feeling of jealousy or suspicion, and with the great advan¬ 
tage of uniting the different classes in closer ties of friend¬ 
liness. Any support I can give your institution will 
gladly be given. It is my wish to become one of the pro¬ 
prietors of the new institution, and for that purpose I have 
put into the hands of my friend Mr. Baines a contribution 


SPEECH AT PUBLIC DINNER. 


169 


proportioned certainly not to my zeal in the cause, but to 
my means, and I trust you will consider it as a mark of 
the unfeigned interest I shall constantly feel in its pros¬ 
perity. (Loud cheers.) 

Public Pinner. 

Mr. Macaulay. — “ Gentlemen, — I can with the 
greatest truth assure you, that this reception amply 
repays me for any labour which I may have undergone, 
and any unpleasant circumstances during the eleven 
months which have elapsed since we last saw each other; 
for though I well remember the enthusiasm and cor¬ 
diality you displayed when we parted, I might attribute 
that in some degree to the excitement that naturally 
follows such a contest and victory: but to find the same 
cordiality and kindness when all the fervour of the first 
struggle has had time to cool, and when I come again 
among you after leaving you for nearly a year, and 
having had nothing but my public conduct to rely upon, 
exposed as it has been to every species of misrepresenta¬ 
tion and detraction,—when I come and find you the same 
kind friends which I left you, I need not say that I 
entertain feelings I will not attempt to describe. (Cheers.) 
Though it is rather unusual both to drink a toast and 
to acknowledge it, I have not scrupled to do so on the 
present occasion. I am not one of those who are strictly 
called his Majesty's ministers, yet I am nearly enough 
connected with them to be able to say that I participate 
with their feelings, and thank you in their name. 
(Cheers.) I drink this toast because, in common with 
all Englishmen, I feel the deepest gratitude to them for 
the great services rendered to their country;—great 


170 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

services in tlieir passing tlie Reform Bill, and great 
services subsequently by means of the Reform Bill. 
(Cheers.) I know that some members of Parliament 
and gentlemen whom I highly respect, on meeting their 
constituents after the late eventful session, have thought 
it necessary to come before them with the tone of humility 
or the language of self-defence. I have no such language 
to hold. (Loud cheers.) I come before you, gentlemen, 
to assume the port and to use the language of a man who 
has, at least, meant and endeavoured well. (Cheers.) I 
come before you to say with confidence, that, amidst 
difficulties such as no Government ever contended with, 
and called to fulfil expectations such as no Government 
ever raised, the administration to which I belong, and 
the Parliament which supported that administration, have 
established a just claim to the gratitude of their country. 
(Cheers.) The difficulties with which they had to struggle 
are, I imagine, well known to you. You know in par¬ 
ticular that from one branch of the legislature they were 
likely to encounter opposition, whenever opposition might 
be fatal to them; great and extensive interests had been 
created by former governments; a great portion of the 
patronage of the administration was perpetually used 
against them; the great and powerful profession of the 
church, which has generally been allied with government, 
was now believed to be generally indisposed to them; 
but, above all, the greatest difficulty with which they had 
to contend, was the high expectation raised through the 
country, and the state of excitement in which the Reform 
Bill had left the public mind. I do not complain of this, 
—I do not blame the people : the thing was inevitable. 
(Cheers.) We all feel in private life that periods of great 
excitement and agitation are almost necessarily followed 


ACCOUNT OF LAST SESSION. 


171 


by reaction; high expectation by disappointment. If 

there should be some particular day, party, or event from 

which we have promised ourselves extraordinary pleasure, 

on which our minds have been dwelling for months, 

imagination necessarily exceeds the reality, and some 

little degree of depression or disappointment follows. 

Besides, a very large portion of the people have not 

sufficiently considered by what means governments can 

promote the happiness of a country. It is not by magic, 

but, as a physician would say, by diet, that the change is 

to be effected. The recovery is slow and gradual;— 

government cannot in one day change poverty into 

plenty; it cannot in one day change all the evils which 

have been inflicted by the misgovernment of ages. All 

that it can do is to bring our institutions into a sound 

and healthy state. I say these highly raised expectations 

are quite natural, and that the people deserve the utmost 

credit for their conduct with regard to the Reform Bill; 

for in no other country would that which we did in two 

* 

sessions of Parliament have been effected without two or 
three bloody campaigns. (Cheers.) You will bear me 
witness that my language has always been that reforms 
must be gradual; that it was utterly impossible that we 
could in one Parliament do away with all the evils that 
a hundred years of misgovernment had produced; that it 
was utterly impossible at once to restore the interests of 
this great country from distress to a sound and healthful 
state; that it was necessary to proceed by degrees. 
Parliament met, and we had to deal with expectations 
which no minister not gifted with supernatural power, 
who did not possess the rod of Moses, who could not 
give to the people quails, and drink, and manna, without 
any exertion on their part, could by any possibility 


172 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

satisfy. (Cheers.) The House of Commons itself showed 
in what a state of excitement the Reform Bill had left 
judicious and well-informed men, for such is the general 
character of that body. On the very day that the King’s 
speech was made, on the first day of the session, as my 
noble friend well knows, notices were put down for two- 
thirds of the session, and perfectly sufficient to occupy 
the House of Commons, if we had gone on debating, for 
three years; not merely such as young gentlemen, with 
great advantage no doubt to themselves, discuss in their 
debating societies; questions such, for example, as this, 
that “ much, if not all, of the Church property shall be 
applied to the public use.” “ Much, if not all.” Surely 
this is not the form in which any practical measure of 
legislation should be brought forward. And a very great 
proportion of those notices were in such a state, that even 
when the general principle was sound, it was impossible 
that any judicious legislation could take place upon them. 
With regard to one of the most important questions that 
can claim the attention of the House—I mean the 
amendment of the law of libel—which no one feels to be 
more important than I do, and on which I have myself 
been pressing the Solicit or-General to bring in a bill, 
a measure was introduced which no person who examined 
it could think it possible to carry into a law. In fact, we 
had to contend with violent expectations out of doors, 
and a busy meddling disposition to innovate within doors. 
Well, gentlemen, the session has passed, and, with all 
these difficulties, we bring before you completely executed 
several great and important measures, any one of which 
would be sufficient to distinguish a session, and the whole 
of which, I will say, that no ten sessions of Parliament 
since the Revolution have produced so much good to the 


QUESTIONS BY MR. BOWER. 


173 


people. (Cheers.) Slavery extinguished ; China thrown 
open to English trade; India thrown open to the settle¬ 
ment of Europeans ; the Yestry Cess abolished in Ireland; 
law reforms of great extent and importance, — some 
passed, others carried forward, and failing (if they failed) 
not from any fault of the Government which introduced 
them; a great inquiry into the municipal government of 
the towns of England commenced under parliamentary 
authority (cheers) ; retrenchment carried to such a point 
that the annual expenditure under the control of Par¬ 
liament has been, since the accession of this ministry to 
power, reduced from fifteen to twelve millions : and while 
all this has been taking place, public credit still main¬ 
tained inviolate, public order preserved, peace with foreign 
powers continued, and that country which ministers found 
in a state of disorder unparalleled, now—in my conscience 
I believe—in a state of returning and advancing pros¬ 
perity.I will, before I sit down, say a few 

words with regard to a much more important accusation 
which Mr. Power has brought against me. ;; 

Mr. Boiver. “ Up, sir, speak up.” 

Mr. Macaulay. “ I will. I cannot conceive that there 
can be a more weighty accusation against a representative, 
than that he has given away twenty millions of the public 
money for a purpose not merely idle, but absolutely 
wicked and profligate. I can safely say I have shown no 
disposition to adhere servilely to any party of men on this 
occasion; but I never gave a vote with more perfect 
satisfaction than I gave that vote for the 20,000,000/.; 
and if the penalty of giving that vote were to be exclusion 
from Parliament and public life, I would give it again 
and again.” (Loud cheers.) 

Mr. Bower said at this point: “ Mr. Macaulay, will 


174? THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


you answer me this question. If you had not had a situa¬ 
tion under Government, would you have given 20,000,000/. 
and seven years* apprenticeship ?” 

Mr. Macaulay. “ I will answer that in the shortest 
manner possible. When I gave that vote, I did not 
believe myself to be in place under Government.*’ (Loud 
cheers.) 

Mr. Bower. “Now then, sir—** (cries of “ Order, 
order ! ** and some confusion.) Mr. Macaulay requested 
that Mr. Bower might be heard. That gentleman accord¬ 
ingly proceeded : “ You have forgot the seven years.** 

Mr. Macaulay. “ I voted against the length of servi¬ 
tude.** 

Mr. Bower. “Did you vote against the seven years* 
servitude ? ** 

Mr. Macaulay. “ I do not recollect whether there was 
a division on the seven years. I voted for Mr. Buxton’s 
motion which settled the question.” (Cheers.) 

Mr. Clapham. “There was no division on the seven 

years.” 

•/ 

Mr. Macaulay. “ Whether there was or not, I do not 
recollect; but I did not vote. I left the House that 
night, determined not to vote against ministers, as they 
had been left in a minority in the House of Lords, and it 
seemed likely they would go out of office; and I was 
fully resolved not to purchase popularity at such a 
moment by voting against them.” (Loud cheers.) Mr. 
Bower attempted to speak again, which caused so much 
confusion that he desisted. Mr. Macaulay proceeded: 
“ When I gave the vote in favour of Mr. Buxton’s motion, 
my resignation was in the hands of Lord Altliorp. (Loud 
Cheers.) I thought, and think, the grant of 20,000,000/. 
a matter of absolute justice. (Cheers.) I say the West 


DEFENCE OF COMPENSATION. 175 

India planters were not the only guilty parties. It was 
not a question about the buying of stolen goods. Goods 
had been stolen, but we had guaranteed the theft. We 
had bound ourselves in every way that a State can bind 
itself, not only by laws, but by the stipulation of solemn 
treaties. When the Mauritius, the Cape, Demerara, and 
Trinidad were conquered, the very terms of the treaties 
guaranteed their existing laws and the rights of existing 
property. And why did we do it ? Because we did not 
know the guilt there was in slavery. And it is not 
necessary to go far back for an illustration of this fact. 
Public opinion has grown, public opinion has improved, 
on the subject. I remember that in 1824 my revered 
friend Mr. Buxton did not wish for the emancipation of 
the existing slaves, and did not think it would be for 
their benefit. And am I to be told, then, that the West 
Indians were the only persons blind to the guilt of slavery? 
1 say that we were partakers of the crime, and ought to 
partake of the penalty. From this time forth all men 
will know that, however odious any privilege to be 
abolished, and however large the sum required, nothing 
will terrify the English Parliament or people from destroy¬ 
ing the abuse, while they compensate the legal owner. 
This is my defence. (Loud cheers.) I will not dwell 
upon it; I could dwell upon it longer; but I see you 
sympathise with me, and I am proud to see it. (Loud 
Cheers.) If we had denied, the planter compensation, I 
feel that we should have acted rather as violent, eager, 
headstrong invaders, than as men of true philanthropy. 
(Cheers.) Never was I so proud of my country as when 
I saw the manner in which this vote was received—far 
prouder than I was at the cry to abolish slavery. Any¬ 
body can cry out against slavery, but to be ready to pay 


176 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 


the price of liberation is a very different thing; that is 
the real test of the humanity of a nation. (Cheers.) Gen¬ 
tlemen, I have rather exhausted myself, and I will only 
further thank you for the manner in which you have 
drunk my health.” 

The local paper says : “ The honourable gentleman con¬ 
cluded this most animated, powerful, and brilliant reply, 
the rapidity of which has deprived our reporter of the 
ability to do it justice, and which by its pointed and 
spirited argument evidently flashed conviction upon the 
audience, amidst enthusiastic and long-continued ap¬ 
plause.” 

By the provisions of the East India Act for 1833 (3 & 4 
Will. 4, c. 85, s. 53), it was provided that a law commis¬ 
sion should be appointed to inquire into the jurisdiction, 
&c., of existing courts of justice and police establish¬ 
ments, and the operation of the laws. The Commissioners 
were from time to time to report the result of their 
inquiries, to follow the instructions of the Governor- 
General, and to make special reports when required. 
Their salaries were to be on the highest scale of remu¬ 
neration given to any of the Company's servants below 
the rank of Member of Council. The appointments were 
vested in the Governor-General. In an earlier section 
it was provided that there should be four Ordinary Mem¬ 
bers of Council, and that the fourth should be appointed 
from among persons not servants of the Company, and 
that this last-mentioned Member of Council should not 
be entitled to sit or vote in the Council, except at meet¬ 
ings for making laws and regulations. The annual salary 
of each Ordinary Member was to be ninety-six thousand 
sicca rupees, about 10,000/. a year, that of the Governor- 
General being two hundred and ninety-six thousand 


FAREWELL ADDRESS TO HIS CONSTITUENTS. 177 

sicca rupees. An outfit of twelve hundred pounds was 
allowed to each Member of Council, and to the Governor 
General of five thousand. There was to be no retiring 
pension. The splendid office of Law Member of Council 
thus created was offered to Mr. Macaulay, and, after con¬ 
sultation with his friends, accepted. It seems to have 
been understood that Mr. Macaulay should be attached 
to the Law Commission, and as a matter of fact he was 
appointed by the Governor General its President. Accord¬ 
ing to the language of the Act of Parliament, the two 
offices are by no means associated, and, legally, Mr. 
Macaulay, in becoming a member of the Law Commission, 
would be entitled to the very large income assigned to 
the members in addition to that which he enjoyed as 
Fourth Ordinary Member. I am not aware, however, 
that the double income was enjoyed with the double 
office. 

The following was the address which on this occasion 
he issued to his constituents :— 


“ To the Electors of Leeds. 

<< Gentlemen,—It is well known to you that the great 
Corporation to which Parliament has entrusted the 
Government of our Indian Empire, has appointed me 
to one of the highest posts in its service; that His 
Majesty has been graciously pleased to confirm the 
appointment—that I have accepted it—and that in a 
very short time I shall proceed to the scene of my new 
labours. 

“I have lately enjoyed the pleasure of conversing with 
several of my most respected constituents, and I have 
been truly gratified to learn that my conduct on this 

N 


178 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

occasion lias obtained their approbation. They justly 
consider it as honourable to themselves that their repre¬ 
sentative should be freely selected by a body, which wants 
neither the spirit nor the power to resist unreasonable 
dictation on the part of the Crown, to fill one of the most 
important offices of the Empire. 

“ I trust that I shall carry with me the esteem of my 
constituents, and that in my new situation I shall not 
forfeit their esteem. In Asia, as in Europe, the principles 
which recommended me to your favour shall be con¬ 
stantly present to my mind. While legislating for a 
conquered race, to whom the blessings of our constitu¬ 
tion cannot as yet be safely extended, and to whom the 
benignant influence of our religion is unknown, I shall 
never forget that I have been a legislator chosen by the 
unforced and uncorrupted voices of a free, an enlightened, 
and Christian people. 

“ I this day return into your hands the high trust 
with which you have honoured me. It was obtained by 
no unworthy arts. It has been used for no unworthy 
ends. I owed it to your free and unsolicited choice. I 
have endeavoured to employ it for what appeared to me 
your real good. My conscience tells me that I have been 
an honest servant, and I owe to you this attestation, that 
you have been most indulgent and reasonable masters. 
You will bear me witness that I have never shrunk from 
speaking the truth, and I can bear witness that you have 
been always willing to hear it. When we have differed, I 
have never evaded your questions, nor have you clamoured 
down my answers. We have endeavoured to convince 
each other by a fair interchange of reasons, and if we still 
continue to differ, we have differed as friends. 

“ I can form no better wish for vour borough—and it 

9/ O 


FAREWELL ADDRESS TO HIS CONSTITUENTS. 179 

is well entitled to tlie best wishes that I can form—than 
that it may maintain the honourable character which it 
has won. If, now that I have ceased to be your servant, 
and only your sincere and grateful friend, I may presume 
to offer you advice which must, at least, be allowed to be 
disinterested, I would say to you: Act towards your 
future representatives as you have acted towards me. 
Choose them as you chose me, without canvassing or 
expense. Encourage them, as you encouraged me, always 
to speak to you fearlessly and plainly. Never suffer your 
great and independent town to be turned into an East 
Retford or Newark. Reject, as you have hitherto re¬ 
jected, the wages of dishonour. Defy, as you have 
hitherto defied, the threats of petty tyrants. Never 
forget that the worst and most degrading species of cor¬ 
ruption is the corruption which operates, not by hopes, 
but by fears. Cherish those noble and virtuous prin¬ 
ciples for which we have struggled and triumphed 
together—the principles of liberty and toleration, of jus¬ 
tice and order. Support, as you have steadily supported, 
the cause of good government; and may all the blessings 
which are the natural fruits of good government descend 
upon you and be multiplied to you an hundredfold ! May 
your manufactures flourish; may your trade be extended; 
may your riches increase. May the works of your skill, 
and the signs of your prosperity, meet me in the furthest 
regions of the East, and give me fresh cause to be proud 
of the intelligence, the industry, and the spirit of my 
constituents. 

“ And now, Gentlemen, it remains for me only to bid 
you farewell—to wish to you all, to my supporters and to 
my opponents, health, prosperity, and happiness, and to 

assure you that to the latest day of my life I shall look 

n 2 


180 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 

back with pride and pleasure on the honourable con 
nection wliicli has subsisted between us. 

“ I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, 

“ Your faithful friend and servant, 

“T. B. Macaulay. 

“ London, February 4, 1834.” 


Of course, Blue opinion at Leeds immediately pro¬ 
nounced that Mr. Macaulay had sold his constituents for 
filthy lucre. The electors immediately plunged them¬ 
selves with the utmost satisfaction into another desperate 
civic struggle. The Conservative interest appears to have 
gained ground considerably. It was, perhaps, felt by his 
constituents that in a measure they had been sacrificed by 
their brilliant member. On this occasion there was a much 
shorter time for the contest, and it by no means presents 
the same vivid points of interest as the preceding one. 
The Liberal candidate gained his seat by the narrow 
majority of forty, the numbers being— 

For Mr. Baines ..... 1951 

For Sir John Beckett . . . .1911 


On the day that Mr. 
address, the King had opened the session of 1834—the 
session that witnessed the schism and dismemberment of 
the Grey Ministry by the resignation of Mr. Stanley, Sir 
James Graham, and others; by the resignation, after¬ 
wards recalled, by Lord Althorp of the office of Chan¬ 
cellor of the Exchequer; by the retirement of Earl Grey 
himself. Mr. Macaulay’s name is found in connection 
with the case of Mr. Sheil, which excited universal 
attention in the early part of the session. The circum¬ 
stances may be briefly recalled. In the recess Mr. Hill, 


Macaulay had written Ins farewell 


CASE OF MR. SHEIL. 


181 


the member for Hull, had accused some Irish members of 
duplicity in regard to the Coercion Bill of the past ses¬ 
sion. Irish members who had voted publicly against the 
Bill had privately entreated Ministers not to relax the 
severity of its provisions. Mr. Hill offered to give an 
answer yes or no to any Irish member who would ask him 
whether he was the traitor. In the course of the autumn 
the question was put by various Irish members, with the 
remarkable omission of Mr. Shell, who was now generally 
supposed to be the person meant. It would have been a 
great mistake on the part of Mr. Sheil to have exposed 
himself to Mr. Hill’s imputation of guilt, when months 
must elapse before he could clear himself before the House 
and the country. The day after Macaulay’s resignation 
of his seat Lord Althorp, in reply to Mr. O’Connell, said 
that he “ had good reason to believe that more than one 
honourable member, who had not only voted but spoken 
violently against the Irish Coercion Act, had made use of 
very different language in private.” Then arose a call of 
“Name, name!” and Mr. Sheil, who was loudly called 
for, repudiating all attempt at evasion, begged to know 
whether he was one of them. Then said Lord Althorp— 

“As the honourable gentleman has put the thing so 
directly and pointedly to me, and as he has not left me 
any means of evading so unpleasant a question, I must 
say that he is.” 

There was the utmost sensation at this announcement. 

Mr. Sheil (with great earnestness, and in grave, mea¬ 
sured tones) then declared that “in the presence of this 
House—in the presence of my country—and, if it be not 
profanation, in the presence of the living God, the indi¬ 
vidual who furnished the information to the Government 
has been guilty of the foulest, the grossest, the most 


182 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


malignant, and the most diabolical calumny.” In the 
altercation that ensued both Lord Althorp and Mr. Sheil 
declined to pledge themselves that they would not proceed 
to hostilities, and were both given into custody. In the 
course of the evening they gave the required assurance 
and were discharged. Night after night the House was 
occupied with this shameful and ridiculous affair, which 
was referred to a Committee of Privileges. 

Mr. Hill brought as his witnesses before the Committee, 
Mr. John Wood and Mr. Macaulay. Never did witnesses 
so signally fail a public prosecutor. Mr. John Wood’s 
testimony appears to have been nothing more than that 
Mr. Sheil had condemned the Coercion Bill. As for Mr. 
Macaulay, he refused to answer the questions of the Com¬ 
mittee, and the Courier stated that the Committee cheered 
Mr. Macaulay when he did so. This paper seemed to 
think that the House ought to commit Mr. Macaulay to 
custody for his conduct. The statement made by Mr. 
Macaulay before the Committee was, that his conversation 
with Mr. Sheil on Irish politics was previous to the intro¬ 
duction of the Coercion Bill, and that, consequently, 
nothing that passed in it could be relevant to the subject 
of the inquiry : as a matter of social principle, he declined 
disclosing a private conversation unless compelled. 

The report of the Select Committee most completely 
exculpated Mr. Sheil from the odious imputation. Mr. 
Hill, after the examination of his own witnesses, gave up 
the charge, and expressed his deep and unfeigned sorrow 
for having ever contributed to give it circulation. Sir 
Bobert Peel had previously significantly remarked, “ I 
think there is an end of the case.”* Mr. Hill added, 


* MacCulIagh’s Memoirs of Sheil. 


DECLINES TO DISCLOSE A CONVERSATION. 


183 


that f ‘ if there were any way, consistent with honour, by 
which he could make reparation to Mr. Sheil, he should 
deem no sacrifice too great to heal the wound which his 
erroneous statement had inflicted.” Accordingly, Mr. 
Sheil, in the House of Commons, publicly “ forgave ” 
Mr. Hill; but in a way that must have been very un¬ 
pleasant to the honourable member's feelings. The Times 
appeared to infer that the refusal to give evidence on the 
plea of the sacredness of private conversation, might 
allow the idea that important evidence was kept in the 
background; and another paper invidiously said, “ the 
Committee have reported without obtaining the necessary 
evidence, and Mr. Macaulay is now on his way to India.” 
The fact, however, was obvious that the conversation in 
question between Mr. Hill and Mr. Macaulay was quite 
irrelevant to the question at issue. The charge had been 
a source of great agony to Mr. Sheil, whose sensitive mind 
would feel it with keen and peculiar severity. Among his 
friends no weight was attached to the charge ; and till the 
time when his earthly remains were borne away from 
Florence to his fatherland, he was as much respected for 
his patriotism, as he was admired for his impassioned 
eloquence. 

It was at a Court of Directors held at the East India 
House, on the 4th December, that Mr. Macaulay had 
been appointed to the office of Fourth Ordinary Member 
of the Council of India, subject to His Majesty's appro¬ 
bation. There were only a few dissentient voices. The 
majority in his favour was most decisive. Accordingly, 
on the 8th January, 1834, he was duly sworn in. 


CHAPTER VII. 


INDIA. 

The general impression created in town by Mr. Macau¬ 
lay's appointment was, tliat lie was an exceedingly lucky 
individual. The John Bull did not fail to indulge in 
sneers, and forthwith nicknamed him Bab Mac Bahauder. 
The office was a mere job, created expressly for him. He 
had broken down in what was to have been one of 
his great speeches last session, and the Ministers were 
afraid of his further assistance. However, they heartily 
wished him a pleasant voyage, and wondered whether 
there was any export duty on “ sweltering venom." So 
far the John Bull. Other papers, however, which appear 
free from prejudiced views, ventured to doubt whether a 
clever essayist and popular orator really supplied the best 
material for the work of legislation. Would not James 
Mill be a better man ? Would not John Austin ? It is 
now impossible not to regret, both for his own sake and 
the sake of the public, that the appointment was not 
offered to Mr. Austin. On the evening of the day on 
which he was sworn in, the Directors gave a dinner to 
Mr. Macaulay. An amusing notice of it was made by 
one who was present. Macaulay rather gave himself 
the airs of a Lycurgus, and spoke as if he were about to 
bestow on the swarming millions of India the blessings of 
rudimentary legislation. When the news reached Calcutta 


ARRIVES AT MADRAS. 


185 


it created a large amount of interest. His admirers 
refreshed their memories about his speeches, essays, and 
poems. Feelings of the warmest interest were excited in 
his favour. In the meantime there was an under murmur 
that he was hardly the right man in the right place. 

A report that a vessel had been fallen in with, which 
had Mr. Macaulay on board, set the Anglo-Indian society 
on the qui vive. It turned out that the report was all a 
mistake. By-and-by more accurate information was 
received. The “Asia” was arrived at last, and the 
Hooghly steamer had been despatched for Miss Macaulay 
and the rest of the passengers. As it was now towards 
the end of June, the great man would at once be off to 
the hills and refresh himself in the cool and delightful 
climate of the Neilgherries. Apropos to the occasion, 
the editor of the Hurkaru reprinted in full an article in 
Tait about Mr. Macaulay, and himself came out with a 
leading article on the same topic, in which he declared Tait 
had not done the subject justice. He was to be detained 
at Madras till a public dinner should be got up, which 
should allow the Madras people to taste the flavour of his 
renowned orations. The dinner did not come off. Un¬ 
doubtedly Mr. Macaulay had too much good sense to 
commence his career with an oratorical display, and 
perhaps the Madras people proceeded on the principle of 
“ no song, no supper.” He paid a visit of ceremony to 
His Highness the Nabob of the Carnatic at the Chepauk 
Palace, and His Highness and the Prince Azeem Jali 
Baliadoor returned the visit. On these auspicious occa¬ 
sions the battery of the garrison fired a salute, and the 
Nabob's guns fired a salute; and under a salute of fifteen 
guns from the fort, Mr. Macaulay left the Presidency for 
the Neilgherries, where he arrived on the 26tli of June. 


186 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


Now commenced those Indian impressions with which 
we so frequently meet in his writings. To a philan¬ 
thropist, and the son of a philanthropist, the condition of 
the people of India question must have been very inter¬ 
esting. In one of his invaluable Minutes he alludes to 
these early impressions. “What is the great difficulty 
which meets us whenever we meditate any extensive 
reform in India ? It is this : that there is no helping 
men who will not help themselves. The phenomenon 
which strikes an observer with the greatest surprise, and 
which, more than any other, damps his hopes of being 
able to serve the people of this country, is their own 
apathy, their own passiveness under wrongs. He comes 
from a land in which the spirit of the meanest rises up 
against the insolence or injustice of the richest and the 
most powerful; he finds himself in a land where the 
patience of the oppressed invites the oppressor to repeat 
his injuries.” 

To his arrival in Madras belongs a conversational 
indiscretion attributed to him, which, as it seems to be 
corroborated by several persons, may be given. It first 
appeared in the form of a letter to the papers, and is 
commented on with absurd severity. 

“ You had not been forty-eight hours in India—your 
feet were scarcely dry from the surf of Madras—before 
you thought fit to declare, that, if you had your own way, 
in two years time not a Court of English law should exist 
in India. We heard this; and from that hour took the 
measure of your mind, of your legislative capacity, of 
your political impartiality, of your wisdom and modera¬ 
tion ; we knew you for our enemy, for the enemy of every 
institution that stood in the path of your own power; we 
saw that you came hither to follow out your own interests. 


ARRIVES AT CALCUTTA FROM THE HILLS. 187 


to conciliate, percliance, the Company you had offended, 
a pledged partizan to do an appointed work; we waited 
for you, we heard of the extravagant indiscretion of your 
conversation, and we foresaw that with such a plenary 
power as you possessed of being ridiculous, you would, 
without fail, make yourself, in your laws, a public laughing¬ 
stock. Thus it has been, and thus will it be again, till 
the termination of your political career may leave you 
more leisure to turn history into ephemeral party pam¬ 
phlets and polish essays which posterity will have no 
occasion to forget.” 

In the meantime the Law Commission was slowly 
getting into shape. Mr. Cameron of the English bar was 
coming out, and Mr. MacNaghten, who was on the spot, 
was appointed. Lycurgus by this time must have become 
acquainted with the ponderous Regulations and the thou¬ 
sand supplements. Letters from England quite explained 
away the imputation of a job, in reference to his appoint¬ 
ment. In fact, it had proceeded from the Tories, and not 
from the Whigs. The Whig Ministers were prepared to 
put one of the judges into the Council, but the parties of 
the Duke and Sir Robert objected to the union of judicial 
and legislative power. 

On the 25th of September Mr. Macaulay landed at 
Calcutta, refreshed, everybody hoped, by the trip to 
Ootakamund. A salute proclaimed the tidings. The 
expected arrival of the new Governor-General himself 
scarcely excited more attention. A “ Bengal Civilian ” 
commenced a series of letters respecting Ilallam's Consti¬ 
tutional History, and Mr. Macaulay's review thereof, 
kindly giving him hints respecting his future legal pro¬ 
ceedings. The young legislator would find in Calcutta a 
very tolerable imitation of the luxuries and fashions of 


188 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

London, and even its literature. There is a Calcutta 
Literary Gazette , and Nicholas Nickleby is reprinted every 
month as fast as it comes out. There is drama, and the 
Italian opera, and French Vaudevilles. There is also music 
in abundance; and Mrs. Atkinson's musical reunion is only 
thinly attended, in consequence of a large dinner-party at 
Mr. Macaulay's. The arrival is reported—refreshing 
intelligence—of a cargo of ice. There is to be a dinner 
to Sir Charles Metcalf, and ladies are requested to attend 
in fancy dresses. The dinner came off, and Mr. Macau¬ 
lay made his first public appearance before Calcutta 
society. I quote the kind words of Sir John Grant in 
proposing his health, and the brief but happy reply. 

Sir John Grant. “ I purposely omitted the name of one 
member of the Council of India, because I thought that, 
as a stranger amongst us, it became us to treat him sepa¬ 
rately and by himself. (Loud applause.) He has brought 
with him here a high and a well-deserved character 
(applause), and unless he shall entirely falsify the expecta¬ 
tions which have been entertained of him by persons 
highly capable of judging, his arrival will be attended, to 
the inhabitants of India, with the most essential advantage. 
He has come here charged with the fulfilment of duties of 
no ordinary sort. I may, perhaps, be thought to be in¬ 
fluenced by the habits of the profession when I say, that 
of all the institutions of a country, the first and most 
essential are its laws. To improve the institutions of a 
people without violating their prejudices, without counter¬ 
acting the slow progress of civilisation, without hazardous 
experiments, but on sound principles, is a task of no 
ordinary nature; and the distinguished and eminent 
person of whom I am now speaking will permit me to 
say to him, that that which he has undertaken is that 


FIRST SPEECH IN INDIA. 


189 


which, if well performed, will reflect the greatest credit on 

his name; and in the performance of which he will meet 

with many and serious difficulties. I wish to him, and to 

those associated with him in the task, the utmost success. 

I wish them to be forwarded in their views bv the assist- 

•/ 

ance of all those who have influence in the society of 
India, and I wish the inhabitants of this country those 
happy results which ought to be derived from a system of 
wise and careful legislation. I beg to give you the health 
of Mr. Macaulay (loud applause), and success to the 
legislation of India." 

Mr. Macaulay. “ I did not expect when I entered this 
room, that I should in this manner be called on to express 
my gratitude. It is not easy for me, and I hope not 
necessary for me, to assure you how much gratitude I feel 
for the manner in which my health has been proposed, 
and the manner in which it has been received by this 
company. I am particularly grateful to my honourable 
and learned friend for coupling my name with those 
weighty and important words—the legislation of India. 
Gentlemen, I feel myself rather indisposed this evening, 
and can only return you my sincere thanks for the manner 
in which you have drunk my health, wishing you every 
degree of prosperity and happiness; and I particularly 
direct that wish to the distinguished individual, our guest; 
though anything that I could say in his praise might he 
deemed superfluous, surrounded as he is by friends of 
many years' standing. Seeing, as he sees, this hall filled 
by friends, whose friendship and admiration have been 
strengthened by a continued knowledge of his merits, it 
is impossible that he can place any value upon any tribute 
of respect that can be offered by a stranger. I would 
not, however, willingly sit down without doing honour, 


190 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


not to him, but to myself, by joining the voice of one 
stranger with that of the society of which he is the most 
conspicuous ornament, and congratulating him on the 
manner in which he leaves us, and myself on witnessing 
the proof that in Indian society the path of rectitude is 
the path of honour.” (Long and loud applause.) 

A few days later, on December the 4th, came the anni¬ 
versary of St. Andrew's Day. All over the world, loyal 
Scotchmen celebrate the glories of their country and their 
national saint. Mr. Macaulay presided. The speeches 
he made were of peculiar personal interest. They exactly 
explain how far he considered himself a Scotchman, and 
quite dispose of the many unkind reflections that have 
been thrown on him by Mr. Paget and others. 

Upwards of two hundred persons sat down to dinner 
at the Town Hall, on Monday evening, to celebrate this 
anniversary of Scotland’s Patron Saint. Mr. Macaulay, 
as chairman, was supported on his right by Sir Charles 
Metcalfe and Colonel Morrison, and on his left by Sir 
Frederick Adam and Sir John Grant; and Mr. Leith 
acted as croupier. 

After the removal of the cloth, and the usual lo} r al 
toasts had been given, Mr. Macaulay said: “Gentlemen, 
the toast I have now to propose to you is one which I 
believe, in all parts of the world, Scotchmen are this 
night drinking with feelings of sociality and pleasure; and 
nowhere, I am sure, will it be drunk with feelings of 
greater pleasure than here, although in this country, 
exiles as we are, with 15,000 miles of sea between us and 
the country of our birth, those feelings of pleasure may 
be mingled in some degree with feelings of regret. At 
this very moment, making allowances for the difference of 
our relative positions on the globe we inhabit, our country- 


EXPLAINS HOW FAR HE IS A SCOTCHMAN. 191 


men at home are no doubt drinking with enthusiasm the 
toast I am now about to propose to you— ‘The Land of 
Cakes/ It is commonly said by those who seek for 
topics of reproach against the Scottish nation, that their 
patriotism has something in it too intolerant, something 
too exclusive. I am not sure that I can entirely vindicate 
them from this charge; but yet the acknowledgment 
sounds to me very much like an eulogium, and if there be 
any nation where such feelings would be excusable, it 
certainly is the nation which we all glory in being con¬ 
nected with, and our connection with which we are this 
evening met to commemorate. I had not the honour, 
Gentlemen, of being born in Scotland, neither was I 
educated there, and I have only visited it as a stranger 
and a traveller; but it is impossible for any one so to 
visit it without being struck by its beauties. I have never 
seen any country equally interesting, even to a person 
who contemplated it without the prejudices of a native. 
It is not easy, I think, to explain from what causes that 
peculiar interest arises; but I think that it is this—that it 
is the only country in which you find objects close to¬ 
gether that produce at once recollections of ancient and 
modern times. There you find objects which remind you 
of events that took place in the sixteenth century, close to 
others of modern date. There you find all those things 
that have an extraordinary hold on the hearts of the un¬ 
cultivated inhabitants, as well as all those that can be 
found in the most civilised countries on the earth; and I 
do not know any country which contains so much that 
moves the imagination, and at the same time fully satisfies 
and gratifies the reason. In that country has been found, 
from the middle ages, even down to our own time, the 
characteristics of a rude state of society, a barbaresque 


192 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


costume, a rude hospitality; and close to all these you 
have the most extraordinary miracles of industry and art. 
The common traveller, as he wanders through that 
country, follows the course of some meandering brook, 
which in one place he finds surrounded by scenes of the 
rudest and wildest nature; and going a little further, he 
finds the water of the same brook the moving principle of 
a vast manufactory, and the roar of the cataract mingling 
with the thunders of mechanical power. As I am speak¬ 
ing to Scotchmen, if I were to select one scene which at 
once displays objects of a past and present age, I would 
select that beautiful capital which consists of a mass such 
as is not to he seen in any other part of Europe. Every 
step you take fills you with recollections of the past, and 
you are conveyed in imagination to the sixteenth century. 
You have only to turn round, and you see everything that 
calls you back to present times, and beyond it a fleet of 
steam-vessels, which our ancestors would have considered 
magical. This is the single charm. There is no country 
in Europe, excepting Greece and Italy, that so forcibly 
reminds you of times that are gone by; and there is no 
country in the world, not even America, that displays 
ruder scenes of primeval nature. The cause of this, I 
believe, is, that prodigiously rapid increase which our 
country has made within the last century in wealth and 
knowledge. There is no country that has made so vast a 
stride in improvement in the last century as Scotland. 
We have abundant reasons, on many accounts, to drink 
prosperity to this country with pride and pleasure. I 
shall not dwell on the many titles it possesses to the 
gratitude of mankind, on what it has done for science 
and political liberty: nor will I enumerate to you the 
number of eminent and pre-eminent men it has produced, 


ON “THE MEMORY OF WALLACE AND BRUCE.” 193 


whose names must be familiar to your ears. I shall only 
say this, that it appears to me, that while we join in this 
festivity, we are sympathising with those who are taking 
it in other parts of the globe; and I am sure you will all 
heartily join with me in drinking, with all the honours, 
f The Land of Cakes/ ” 

Mr. Macaulay, in responding to the toast of his health, 
said —“ It is needless for me, I am sure, to say that I re¬ 
turn you my most hearty thanks for the manner in which 
my health has been proposed and drunk. It has given 
me the greatest pleasure to attend a society so far from 
Europe where there is so much of British, so much of Scotch 
feeling—of all those feelings which form the best connec¬ 
tion between ourselves and our native country. I have 
already told you that I am not a Scotchman by birth or 
by education, but I am by descent, and my affection is 
equally divided between the two parts of the island; and 
this brings me to my next toast, which I shall give before I 
sit down. You will be surprised that one who calls himself 
as much of an Englishman as a Scotchman should give 
with so much heartiness as I do f The memory of Sir 
William Wallace and of Robert Bruce/ and if those 
distinguished men had gained their victories in any vulgar 
war, whether on behalf of England or of Scotland, it 
w'ould have been by no means justifiable in me to propose 
a health that could in any way have recalled irritating 
recollections; but it is as much the English as the Scotch 
part of the company that will assent to the justice of that 
toast. In England we can have no other feeling than that 
of respect for men who stood up in bad times to main¬ 
tain the independence of their country against unjust 
aggression. No Englishman can look down on them—a 
commoner who first broke through the face of aristocracy, 


194 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOPiD MACAULAY. 

and by liis own merits placed himself in the dignified 
station of Regent of his country, and a King who placed 
himself at the head of his people and fought with them 
on foot in defence of their liberties; I conceive that these 
two eminent men, whose health I intend to propose, were 
benefactors not less to the southern than to the northern 
part of the island. No greater calamity could have be¬ 
fallen England than if, from the want of such men, she 
had been able to place on Scotland the yoke she abhorred, 
and to have her, even down to this time perhaps a con¬ 
quered nation. I am not aware that I touch upon poli¬ 
tical feelings, from which I am desirous to abstain, when 
I say that it would have been a most happy thing for the 
British Empire if Ireland had had her Wallace and her 
* Bruce—if it had not in those dark ages come by conquest 
under the arbitrary yoke of England, but had been, like 
Scotland, gradually amalgamated with England by pacific 
measures. On the other hand, it would be the greatest 
calamity if at that time we had been cursed with another 
Ireland; if, from the want of such men, we had acquired 
a country to be governed through a succession of ages by 
military force. It is not as an Englishman—not as a 
Scotchman—but with an undivided British heart that I 
propose to you the health of f Sir William Wallace and 
Hubert Bruce.’ ” 

Mr. Macaulay. “The toast which I am now about to 
propose is extremely well chosen for such an occasion. It 
is ‘ The memory of Robert Burns/ It is extremely well 
chosen from the whole of the literature of Scotland, rich as 
it is in great names from the earliest times. We can boast of 
a Buchanan, a Smith, a Sir Walter Scott, and many other 
names of literary celebrity; yet I confess, if I looked out 
for a representative of the national genius, for a mind 


ON “THE CIVIL SERVICE OF INDIA.” 193 

which, abounded with the flavour of the soil of all the 
writers Scotland ever produced, I should certainly fix upon 
Burns. As for those other eminent men, they were ac¬ 
quainted with the literature of many ages; to them classic 
learning was familiar; but Burns had nothing but the 
literature of the plain Scotch peasant. He wrote plain 
Scotch. Whenever he attempted to write English, in my 
opinion, he always fell below himself; and I do not feel 
any great admiration for any of his works excepting those 
that he wrote in his own native dialect. His seems to 
have been a mind filled with images of the cottages and 
fields in which he passed his youth. His language is the 
plain language of Scotland, and with nothing but these 
materials and his own original genius, he came forth in the 
most benighted period of English poetry, and produced a 
succession of works which, if they do not equal those of 
Shakespeare and Milton, are imbued with the same spark 
and spirit that are to be found in poets of the first class. 
I think, therefore, that your stewards have done most 
wisely in selecting his memory as an object of our respect, 
because I conceive it would be impossible to find in the 
literature of any country any man so much the image of 
the mind of his country as he. I have, therefore, much 
pleasure in proposing the health of f Robert Burns.’ ” 

In proposing the next toast Mr. Macaulay said : “ The 
toast which stands next on the list is the f Civil Service of 
India/ and there can be no toast that I would propose 
with greater satisfaction. I have had but a short oppor¬ 
tunity of observing the conduct and characters of the 
public functionaries in this country, but I have had the 
opportunity of comparing the functionaries here witli 
similar ones at home—of comparing those who here ex¬ 
ercise the higher powers of government with those who 


196 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOKD MACAULAY. 


exercise similar powers at home—and judging impartially, 
and making every allowance for the different state of 
things and the early ages at which they leave their 
native country, I have no hesitation in saying that the 
civil and military services in this country are, as far as I 
am able to judge, no way inferior to those in Europe. 
The politics of India are necessarily different from the 
politics of Europe; the revenue system here is not the 
same as it is at home; the diplomacy required with Oude 
and Joudpore is not the same as that required with Paris 
or Madrid ; the details of business are different; the mode 
in wdiich the two countries are governed is different—the 
government of the one is carried on by means of the 
tongue, of the other by the pen; of one by open dis¬ 
cussion in Parliament, of the other by minutes and 
despatches — but when you have made allowances for 
these differences, you will be inclined to say, as I without 
hesitation do, that I have found in India abilities for the 
purposes of government diplomacy equal to any I have 
ever seen employed, having seen the most eminent that 
are employed, in the government of England. I am 
convinced we shall drink this toast with the greater satis¬ 
faction when we consider how large a proportion Scotland 
has furnished to the military and civil services of India. 
Munro and Elphinstone were both Scotchmen. Munro 
died in this country, and I leave his eulogium to those 
who best knew him. Elphinstone I have seen. I have 
seen him in England, in a society widely different to that 
to which he had been accustomed. I have seen him sup¬ 
porting the dignity of his own character in the crowds of 
London, who seemed at once to be impressed with the 
idea that they were approaching a great man. It is diffi¬ 
cult to describe what I mean; but there are some here who 


GENERAL MACAULAY OF TRAVANCORE. 197 

will, no doubt, understand me when I say that I never 
saw any man who carried about him more of the character 
of greatness than he did; it was impossible when you saw 
him not to think that you spoke to a very great man. 
He was one of the very few who enjoyed in England a 
fame commensurate with his merits ; for it is a fact that 
cannot be denied, that the public in England pay little 
attention to the proceedings of this country, or to the 
merits of its public services. This is a circumstance that 
I have often, when speaking to him, regretted, imperfectly 
as I was then acquainted with the merits of those services ; 
and it is a circumstance which, since I have become better 
acquainted with them, I regret still more. It is among 
the thoughts that are the most agreeable to me that I may 
be able to awake a more just appreciation of the merits of 
those services—to turn the attention of those who only 
want better information to act differently to the pre¬ 
eminent services which have been here rendered to the 
British Empire and to the honour of the British name by 
the servants of the Company. Gentlemen, I propose with 
the greatest pleasure the ‘ Civil Service of India/ ” 

The Law Commission very slowly got into work. 
Although the Parliamentary limit was brought down 
from five to three, it was nearly a year from the arrival 
of Mr. Macaulay before any serious work was thought 
about. About this time the Asiatic Journal rectified an 
assertion made in the Court of Proprietors that his kins¬ 
man General Macaulay made nineteen thousand a year as 
Political Resident at Travancore, “ the aggregate being 
less than one-fourth of that amount.” The General 
Orders of June 24, 1835, announce Mr. Macaulay's 
appointment by the Local Government as Chief of the 
Law Commission, an appointment that would reasonably 


19S THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

though not necessarily follow from his appointment as the 
Law Member of the Supreme Council. From the first, 
the labours of the Commission excited great attention; 
there was no lack of publications ventilating the subject, 
and throwing a great deal of light on its various bearings. 
A resolution was passed by the Council of India, that the 
draft of every law shall be printed and published for 
general information six weeks before it is reconsidered to 
be finally passed by the Legislative Council. At this 
early period appeared a report which assumed in one 
paper the form of a statement that Mr. Macaulay’s recall 
was resolved on by the Court; the report was inaccurate, 
and it does not appear that it ever possessed any degree 
of truth. It certainly seems that the act designed that 
the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, or some other 
legal functionary, was meant to be the Law Member of 
Council, and that this was the reason whv the Law 
Member was deprived of the right of voting in any other 
than his legislative capacity. One of the Mofussil (pro¬ 
vincial) papers the Agra Ukhbar , while eloquent in his 
praises questions his legislative powers, and says, with 
some point, “ We fear Martinus Scriblerus was right in 
introducing the use of the division of labour in the work¬ 
ing of the wonders of the universe ; and that Providence 
makes one man to perform great deeds and another to 
review them in the Quarterlies.” One law at least was 
enacted with general approbation, the establishment of 
one uniform gold and silver coinage to be current all 
over India. This was the first Indian coinage of the 
precious metals in the name and bearing the head of the 
Sovereign of Great Britain and the designation of the 
Company. The absurdity of coining in the name of 
the pageant king of Delhi was cast off, and to the people 


THE LAW COMMISSION. 


199 


of tlie East the cliange of coinage would be an indis¬ 
putable indication of our sovereignty. 

The arrival of Mr. Cameron in Calcutta completed the 
members of the Law Commission, and enabled them at 
once to enter upon their labours. Some months pre¬ 
viously Government had laid down certain instructions 
for their conduct, and these had been published for 
general information. They were principally to be con¬ 
cerned with the formation of a criminal code. Thev 
were to proceed with the code in sections, and each 
section, when completed and adopted by the Legislative 
Council, was to have the force of law. A code was much 
needed, and it was hoped that this, under the manage¬ 
ment of Mr. Macaulay, would be worthy of a great 
nation and of a great legislator. Napoleon declared that 
lie should go down to posterity with his code in hand, and 
liis code has done more for the fame of Justinian, than all 
the victories of the ill-requited Belisarius. An objection 
was pointed out in limine which has certainly great force. 
The Commissioners were instructed to move about the 
countries, to institute inquiries, to make observations. 
The Commission consisted of four Englishmen, two Lon¬ 
don barristers, a gentleman from Madras, and a gentleman 
from Bombay. The seventy millions of natives for whom 
the laws were to be made, were totally unrepresented in 
the Council. And how could men with no knowledge of 
their language and books, no sympathy with their feel¬ 
ings and prejudices, no acquaintance with their customs 
and their anomalies, produce the pithy intelligible maxims 
for a code that should become as familiar to the memory 
of the Indian as the sacred texts of the Shastras. The 
Friend of India, a periodical to whose courteous and 
moderate language great weight is always to be attached, 


200 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

urged such considerations, and urged that beyond the 
pale of the Commission or the Commissioners there were 
men whose long experience in India would enable them 
to correct the necessary imperfections that were found. 
Justinian had appointed thirty-eight jurists to act in 
concert with the President in constructing the Code, 
the Institutes, and the Pandects, and, though an in¬ 
tolerant man, had selected that President from his pagan 
subjects. 

The Commissioners appear to have been conscientious 
and active. Various laws w r ere passed, some of them, it 
is said, even in advance of the public necessities. They 
also paid visits to the Courts in person in order to under¬ 
stand the working of the criminal laws. Before long, 
however, there were unpleasant indications of a heated 
state of feeling. There appears to have then existed in 
Calcutta considerable jealousy and antagonism between 
the civil servants of the Company and English residents 
other than civil servants. The fashioable exclusiveness, 
real or affected, or both, appears to have been productive 
of much sore feeling; and certainly indications of this 
kind, if intended to be galling and annoying, were on 
every consideration to be most strongly condemned. The 
Bengal Herald remarks: “ The great mistakes which 

writers on Calcutta society commit is in not distinguish¬ 
ing between what is merely so called in India and the 
community at large of the metropolis. The term 
* society ; has a very peculiar meaning in India. In 
England, in order to convey that meaning, an epithet 
is always employed. Thus, when Mrs. Butler writes to 
express her contempt for the gentlemen of the press, she 
observes, that newspaper editors are never admitted into 
good society in England. In Calcutta the same idea 


ACTS OF THE COMMISSION. 


201 


would be expressed without the epithet; to say a man is 
not in society is perfectly understood here to mean that 
he is not admitted into the circles of fashion: no one 
supposes that one so spoken of may not be highly 
respectable and highly intelligent.” At this time the 
Indian press began to show symptoms of hostility to¬ 
wards Mr. Macaulay. As literary men they would have 
been peculiarly sensible of the advantage of his alliance 
and good offices, and might have hoped through him, as 
one of their own order, though far removed in rank, to 
have gained admittance to that society which in some 
cases they would have adorned, and from which they were 
unjustly and uncharitably excluded. This disappoint¬ 
ment was not unnatural, and this deepened into persistent 
dislike of Mr. Macaulay and his measures, which, if it 
ever became personal and vindictive — and we much 
suspect that this in some instances might be the case — 
would call for condemnation, and go far to justify a 
system of exclusion. 

One of the acts of the Commission was a wise and 
merciful provision of much importance. Judges were 
allowed to mitigate their sentences in capital cases, and 
also to set a convict at liberty when the case was such as 
to warrant a recommendation for a free pardon. It was 
the custom of the Law Commissioners to issue circulars 
when they required special information on any subject. 
The Agra JJkhbar published one of these circulars in 
reference to the propriety of discontinuing the use of 
oaths in the administration of public justice. Another 
circular was also published on the subject of Indian 
slavery. This produced a letter from Mr. Millett, the 
secretary to the Law Commission, to Mr. Harrington, the 
officiating registrar to the Courts of Sudder Dewannee, 


£02 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


and Nizamut Adawlut, and these Courts issued a circular 
to all commissioners, judges, magistrates, and assistant 
magistrates, containing a copy of the letter, and strictly 
prohibiting the publication of such circulars. The follow¬ 
ing is a much criticised paragraph of the letter in which 
the pen of Mr. Millett was supposed to speak the language 
of Mr. Macaulay :— 

“ In performance of the arduous work in which they are 
engaged, the Commissioners may have occasion to have 
free and unreserved communication on various points with 
judicial functionaries, imparting to them sometimes crude 
ideas formed on the first view of questions, for the deter¬ 
mination of which it is necessary to seek the aid of ex¬ 
perience and local information not possessed by the 
Commissioners themselves. And the judges, I am directed 
to observe, will doubtless at once perceive that such free¬ 
dom of correspondence must be materially checked unless 
the Commissioners are assured that publicity will not be 
given to any of their letters without either their own 
concurrence or the authority of the Government of 
India.” 

The language of this letter appears to be fair and 
reasonable enough. It is ungenerous that the Commis¬ 
sioners were sensitive about exposing an unavoidable 
ignorance of details which they frankly avow. It was 
urged by the press that if they wanted information, the 
best way was to allow the publication of their want, and 
then the press would not fail to afford them an ample 
amount of evidence and discussion. They pointed to the 
good they had already effected by criticisms on laws. 
Such was the modification of the Badge and Indigo regu¬ 
lations. Such was the introduction of preambles to their 
Acts, which, although enjoined by Parliament, had been 


THE SO-CALLED BLACK ACT. 


203 


unaccountably omitted, and by the omission had changed 
reasonable laws into arbitrary edicts. Perhaps the Com¬ 
mission think it unbecoming to appear ignorant on any 
matter on which they have to legislate. But if nothing 
but the experience of its members is to be looked to, the 
best plan would be at once to send back Mr. Macaulay 
to a place where his practical knowledge will be more 
effective. 

Henceforth, though praise was given to measures un¬ 
questionably good, as in the protection afforded to the 
indigo planters against the Zemindars, the general tone of 
criticism is highly unfriendly. It was complained that 
the proceedings of the Commission were conducted in 
secresy and darkness. The English in India were to have 
nothing to do with the law by which they were to live but 
to obey it. The renewal of the Insolvent Law for three 
years, a law said to be condemned by every barrister and 
every judge, was animadverted on. It was complained 
that the main principle adopted by Mr. Macaulay and his 
colleagues were that every Englishman not in the Com¬ 
pany’s service, and not in the jurisdiction of the Supreme 
Court, is a foreigner. The feeling of dislike reached its 
height by the law rescinding the 107th section, cap. 155, 
of the statute 53rd of Geo. III., whereby the right of 
appeal by Britisli-born subjects to the Supreme Court is 
affirmed. The effect of the rescission would be that 
Indian and British subjects w r ould stand on the same legal 
footing. At first the agitation on the subject was incon¬ 
siderable. A petition was presented to the Governor- 
General. The secretary to the Government of India, Mr. 
W. H. MacNagliten, returned an answer to the petition, 
in which, after carefully discussing the different points 
mooted, it was concluded “ on the whole, his Lordship in 


204 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

Council sees no reason to doubt the expediency of passing 
the law in question .” 

A portion at least of the Calcutta public, and that an 
active and noisy one, were dissatisfied with this decision, 
and began to agitate. They found another grievance. 
Were not the Commissioners bound to make reports from 
time to time ? Where were these reports ? Why had 
they not been published ? A petition was made to the 
local government requesting to be informed as to the law 
under which Britisli-born subjects resident in the Mofussil 
(interior) shall live after the new measure was passed. 
They were told somewhat curtly in answer, “ you are to 
live under just so much of Indian law as you lived under 
before ”—a reply of which Mr. Macaulay got the credit; 
and he was assured solemnly, though oddly, by the editor 
of the Hurkaru, that he “ had unwhigged himself for ever.” 
He was also defined as being “a martyr offered up at the 
shrine of public reprobation for the ultimate good of 
India.” 

The revised tariff issued about this time was favourably 
received. The agitation against the Act, now called the 
“ Black Act,” proceeded. They summoned a public meet¬ 
ing. They determined to appeal to Parliament. They 
sent circulars into the Mofussil to collect opinions, 
although in this quarter they did not meet with such suc¬ 
cess as their strenuous endeavours deserved. The course 
adopted towards Mr. Macaulay was personal and scan¬ 
dalous in the highest degree. His moral character was 
not spared to such an extent that most probably the law 
of libel was infringed. Act Number Eleven, 1836 (such 
is its proper style), certainly upset the tranquillity of Cal¬ 
cutta, and, said the papers, “ we hold and do consider 
the honourable fourth member of the Council mainly 


INCIDENT OF CAPTAIN 11IDER, 


205 


responsible in this enactment.” The public meeting 
mentioned took place on Saturday, June 18, 1836, at the 
Town Hall, convened by the sheriff, who presided. There 
were about eight hundred people present. A Mr. Tucker, 
a voluble lawyer, who succeeded in reaping considerable 
advantage from the controversy, opened the case amid 
great applause. The resolution was seconded by Mr. 
Stocqueler. A great deal of patriotic eloquence was 
talked about the rights of Englishmen, &c., and Mr. 
Longueville Clarke would tell the tyrant— 

“ There yawns the sack, and yonder rolls the sea.” 

A ludicrous incident occurred at this point. A certain 
Captain Eider rose and said — u Gentlemen, I come before 
you in the character of a British seaman, and on that 
ground claim your attention for a few moments. Gentle¬ 
men, there has been much talk during the evening of 
laws and regulations, and rights and liberties, and all 
that; but you all seem to have forgotten that this, gentle¬ 
men, is the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.” Here 
there was loud laughter and cheers. “ Gentlemen, I beg 
to propose, and I call on the statue of Lord Cornwallis 
and yourselves to join me in three cheers for the Duke of 
Wellington and the Battle of Waterloo.” On this ensued 
furious cheers and renewed laughter, waving of hats and 
handkerchiefs, the chairman striving to restore order and 
decorum. The agitators were much disgusted, and pro* 
claimed the whole proceedings shameful. The meeting 
was shortly afterwards adjourned to the next Monday 
evening, which at least would not labour under the dis¬ 
advantage of being the anniversary of the Battle of 
Waterloo. The objectionable Captain Eider, however, 
attended again, and excited great uproar by his renewed 


206 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

allusions to the great battle. iC Let us give three cheers 
for the Battle of Waterloo, and then I’ll propose an 
amendment which shall go to the whole question.” 
Resolutions were carried condemning the Act, petitioning 
Parliament, appointing committees in Calcutta and 
England, electing a permanent secretary, and sending 
Mr. Tucker as their paid agent to England to advocate 
their interests. 

Everything was done to give a popular aspect to the 
cause. A popular question, however, is one thing in 
London, and another in Calcutta. We at this point 
quote Mr. Macaulay’s criticism on the proceedings, 
pointing out the distinction between the two cases:— 

“ The political phraseology of the English in India is 
the same with the political phraseology of our country¬ 
men at home. But it is never to be forgotten that the 
same words stand for different things at London and 
Calcutta. We hear much about public opinion—the love 
of liberty—the influence of the press: but public opinion, 
in this sense, means the opinion of 500 persons who 
have no taste, feeling, or interest in common with the 
50,000,000 among whom they live; and the love of 
liberty means the strong objections wdiich the 500 feel 
for every measure that can prevent them from acting as 
they choose towards the 50,000,000 ; while the press is 
altogether supported by the 500, and has no motive to 
plead for the bulk of the population. The petitioners 
think it hard that questions which ought to be decided by 
the law of England should be decided by judges not bred 
to the study of that law. Why is this harder than that 
questions of Hindoo law and Mahomedan law should 
every day be decided by judges of the Supreme Court, 
who were never bred to the study of the Hindoo or 


HIS SOCIAL LIFE, ACCOPiDIKG TO THE PRESS. 207 


Mahomedan jurisprudence ? Why is it a greater evil that 
a few hundreds of Englishmen should he under the juris¬ 
diction of a court which conducts its proceedings in 
Persian, than that some hundreds of thousands of natives 
should be under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court 
which conducts its proceedings in English ? It is hard, 
according to the petitioners, that Englishmen should go 
before courts the pleaders of which do not understand 
the English laws or language. Why harder than that 
natives should be forced to go before the Supreme Court, 
in which there is not a single barrister who has studied 
oriental law, or who can speak an oriental language ?” 

Happily, the public life of Mr. Macaulay in India is 
also concerned with more peaceful scenes. We find him 
attending the examination at the Medical College. With 
pleasure we find him working a whole day at a school 
examination. We find a very interesting account of a 
splendid party given by a wealthy native, who substituted 
an “ elegant and refined” entertainment for the vulgar 
crowd and tinsel glare otherwise too common. One of 
the India papers said of Mr. Macaulay during his resi¬ 
dence—“ Mr. Macaulay had no privacy, if we may use 
the term. He was always as if before the public; and 
whether at the Town Hall or a Berra Konnah in Chow- 
ringee, he was ever the same,—it was always f talkee for 
talkee ’ with him. It may be, however, that he possessed 
one grand redeeming feature : he was frank and open in 
his -dislike or indifference. He contemned public opinion, 
and was indifferent to or disliked society, and he took no 
pains to conceal the one or the other.” On this occasion 
all the beauty and fashion of Calcutta was present, benign 
influences to which it was said that the legal member 
was inhumanly insensible. On this occasion the host, 


208 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

Dwarkonath Tagore, did tilings in a sumptuous fashion. 
The guests moved through rooms rich in more than the 
fabled magnificence of the East, combined with the 
statuary and decorations of Western art. Music, in 
which the lyric genius of Italy was represented by the 
best available talent of the East, occupied the earlier 
hours before the dancing commenced. The ices and 
champagne of the London party abounded, with all the 
luxurious adjuncts of an oriental festivity. Coloured 
lights, then recently imported from Europe, illumined 
the dark masses of foliage in the rear. The scene 
described appears to have been as unique as it w r as 
magnificent. 

The opposition to the Law Commission continued 
steady enough. A draught Act respecting the com¬ 
petency of witnesses was objected to. A grievance was 
got up. Some wretched man was obliged to stop in 
prison till a regulation could be framed by the com¬ 
missioners to meet the case. Finally, the penal code 
came forth, and substantially under this the Hindoo 
population will hereafter have to live. Although this 
code has been reprinted at various times, and on various 
occasions, and its merits have justly assured this, yet 
practically it is quite unknown, and indeed inaccessible 
to English readers. The document is most important in 
itself, and through it the influence of Macaulay will be 
most widely and most permanently felt. It was a work 
to which he devoted some of the best years of his life. 
Every page bears the impress of his peculiar character. 
I shall therefore endeavour to give a view of it, which 
shall possess some degree of fullness. 

This important piece of jurisdiction consists of three 
parts:— 


ACCOUNT OF THE PENAL CODE. 209 

1. A Prefatory Letter to Lord Auckland, the Governor- 
General in Council. 

2. The Body of the Code, in twenty-six chapters, with 
explanations, exceptions, and illustrations. 

8. Notes, eighteen in number, from A to R. 

W e first quote the preparatory matter in the first part:— 

“ The time which has been employed in framing this 
body of law wall not be thought long by any person who 
is acquainted with the nature of the labour w 7 hich such 
w r orks require, and with the history of other works of the 
same kind. We should, however, have been able to lay 
it before your Lordship in Council many months earlier 
but for a succession of unfortunate circumstances, against 
which it was impossible to provide. 

“ It is hardly necessary for us to entreat your Lordship 
in Council to examine with candour the work which we 
now submit to you. To the ignorant and inexperienced 
the task in which we have been engaged may appear easy 
and simple. But the members of the Indian Govern¬ 
ment are doubtless well aware that it is among the most 
difficult tasks in which the human mind can be emplo 3 r ed ; 
that persons placed in circumstances far more favourable 
than ours have attempted it with very doubtful success; 
that the best codes extant, if malignantly criticised, will 
be found to furnish matter for censure in every page; 
that the most copious and precise of human languages 
furnish but a very imperfect machinery to the legislator; 
that, in a work so extensive and complicated as that on 
which we have been employed, there will inevitably be, in 
spite of the most anxious care, some omissions and some 
inconsistencies; and that w r e have done as much as could 
reasonably be expected from us if we have furnished the 


210 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

Government with that which may, by suggestions from 
experienced and judicious persons, be improved into a 
good code. 

“ Your Lordship in Council will be prepared to find in 
this performance those defects which must necessarily be 
found in the first portion of a code. Such is the relation 
which exists between the different parts of the law, that 
no part can be brought to perfection while the other parts 
remain rude. The penal code cannot be clear and explicit 
while the substantive civil law and the law of procedure 
are dark and confused. While the rights of individuals 
and the powers of public functionaries are uncertain, it 
cannot always be certain whether those rights have been 
attacked, or those powers exceeded. 

“Your Lordship in Council will perceive that the 
system of penal law which we propose is not a digest of 
any existing system, and that no existing system has 
furnished us even with a groundwork. We trust that 
your Lordship in Council will not hence infer that we 
have neglected to inquire, as we are commanded to do by 
Parliament, into the present state of that part of the law, 
or that in other parts of our labours we are likely to 
recommend unsparing innovation, and the entire sweeping 
away of ancient usages. Yv r e are perfectly aware of the 
value of that sanction which long prescription and 
national feeling give to institutions. We are perfectly 
aware that lawgivers ought not to disregard even the 
unreasonable prejudices of those for whom they legislate. 
So sensible are we of the importance of these considera¬ 
tions, that, though there are not the same objections to 
innovation in penal legislation as to innovation affecting 
vested rights of property, yet, if we had found India in 
possession of a system of criminal law which the people 


REMARKABLE USE OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 


211 


regarded with, partiality, we should have been inclined 
rather to ascertain it, to digest it, and moderately to correct 
it, than to propose a system fundamentally different. 

(C But it appears to us that none of the systems of penal 
law established in British India has any claim to our 
attention, except what it may derive from its own intrinsic 
excellence. All those systems are foreign. All were 
introduced by conquerors differing in race, manners, 
language and religion from the great mass of the people. 
The criminal law of the Hindoos was long ago super¬ 
seded, through the greater part of the territories now sub¬ 
ject to the Company, by that of the Mahomedans, and 
is certainly the last system of criminal law which an 
enlightened and humane Government would be disposed 
to revive. The Mahomedan criminal law has in its 
turn been superseded, to a great extent, by the British 
Regulations.” 

The use of illustrations, which is carried to a very 
remarkable extent, is thus explained:— 

" One peculiarity in the manner in which this code is 
framed will immediately strike your Lordship in Council, 
—we mean the copious use of illustrations. These illus¬ 
trations will, we trust, greatly facilitate the understanding 
of the law, and will at the same time often serve as a 
defence of the law. In our definitions we have repeatedly 
found ourselves under the necessity of sacrificing neatness 
and perspicuity to precision, and of using harsh expres¬ 
sions because we could find no other expressions which 
would convey our whole meaning, and no more than our 
whole meaning. Such definitions standing by themselves 
might repel and perplex the reader, and would perhaps 
be fully comprehended only by a few students after long 
application. Yet such definitions are found, and must be 


212 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD HACAULAY. 

found, in every system of law which aims at accuracy. 
A legislator may, if he thinks fit, avoid such definitions, 
and by avoiding them he will give a smoother and more 
attractive appearance to his workmanship; but in that 
case he flinches from a duty which he ought to perform, 
and which somebody must perform. If this necessary 
but most disagreeable work be not performed by the law¬ 
giver once for all, it must be constantly performed in a 
rude and imperfect manner by every judge in the empire, 
and will probably be performed by no two judges in the 
same way. We have therefore thought it right not to 
shrink from the task of framing these unpleasing but 
indispensable parts of a code. And we hope that when 
each of these definitions is followed by a collection of 
cases falling under it, and of cases which, though at first 
sight they appear to fall under it, do not really fall under 
it, the definition and the reasons which led to the adop¬ 
tion of it will be readily understood. The illustrations 
will lead the mind of the student through the same steps 
by which the minds of those who framed the law pro¬ 
ceeded, and may sometimes show him that a phrase which 
may have struck him as uncouth, or a distinction which 
he may have thought idle, was deliberately adopted for 
the purpose of including or excluding a large class of 
important cases. In the study of geometry it is con¬ 
stantly found that a theorem which, read by itself, 
conveyed no distinct meaning to the mind, becomes per¬ 
fectly clear as soon as the reader casts his eye over the 
statement of the individual case taken for the purpose of 
demonstration. Our illustrations, we trust, will in a 
similar manner facilitate the study of the law. 

“ Thus the code will be at once a statute book and a 
collection of decided cases. The decided cases in the 


NON-EXEMPTION OF SOVEREIGN HOUSES. 213 


code will differ from the decided cases in the English law 
books in two most important points. In the first place, 
our illustrations are never intended to supply any omis¬ 
sion in the written law, nor do they ever, in our opinion, 
put a strain on the written law. They are merely 
instances of the practical application of the written law 
to the affairs of mankind. Secondly, they are cases 
decided not by the judges but by the legislature, by those 
who make the law, and who must know more certainly 
than any judge can know what the law is which they 
mean to make. 

“ Your Lordship in Council will see that we have not 
proposed to except from the operation of this code any of 
the ancient sovereign houses of India residing within the 
Company's territories. Whether any such exception 
ought to be made, is a question which, without a more 
accurate knowledge than we possess of existing treaties, 
of the sense in which those treaties have been understood, 
of the history of negotiations, of the temper and of the 
power of particular families, and of the feeling of the 
body of the people towards those families, we could not 
venture to decide. We will only beg permission most 
respectfully to observe that every such exception is an 
evil ; that it is an evil that any man should be above the 
law; that it is a still greater evil that the public should 
be taught to regard as a high and enviable distinction 
the privilege of being above the law; that the longer 
such privileges are suffered to last, the more difficult it is 
to take them away; that there can scarcely ever be a 
fairer opportunity for taking them away than at the time 
when the Government promulgates a new code binding 
alike on persons of different races and religions; and that 
we greatly doubt whether any consideration, except that 


214 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOTiD MACAULAY. 

of public faith solemnly pledged, deserves to be weighed 
against the advantages of equal justice. 

“ The peculiar state of public feelings in this country 
may render it advisable to frame the law of procedure in 
such a manner that families of high rank may be dis¬ 
pensed, as far as possible, from the necessity of perform¬ 
ing acts which are here regarded, however unreasonably, 
as humiliating. But though it may be proper to make 
wide distinctions as respects form, there ought in our 
opinion to be, as respects substance, no distinctions 
except those which the Government is bound by express 
engagements to make. That a man of rank should be 
examined with particular ceremonies or in a particular 
place may, in the present state of Indian society, be 
highly expedient. But that a man of any rank should be 
allowed to commit crimes with impunity must in every 
state of society be most pernicious. 

et In conclusion, we beg respectfully to suggest that, if 
your Lordship in Council is disposed to adopt the code 
which we have framed, it is most desirable that the native 
population should, with as little delay as possible, be 
furnished with good versions of it in their own languages. 
Such versions, in our opinion, can be produced only by 
the combined labours of enlightened Europeans and 
natives; and it is not probable that men competent to 
execute all the translations which will be required would 
be found in any single province of India. We are sensible 
that the difficulty of procuring good translations will be 
great; but we believe that the means at the disposal of 
your Lordship in Council are sufficient to overcome every 
difficulty; and we are confident that your Lordship in 
Council will not grudge anything that may be necessary 
for the purpose of enabling the people who are placed 


ABSTRACT OF THE CODE. 


215 


under your care to know what that law is according to 
which they are required to live.” 

It would obviously be impossible to go into the details 
of the Code. We subjoin a list of the chapters. 


1 . 

II. 

III. 

IV. 
V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 


XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 
XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 


General Explanations. 

Of Punishments. 

General Exceptions. 

Of Abetment. 

Of Offences against the State. 

Of Offences relating to the Army and Xavy. 

Of Offences against the Public Tranquillity. 

Of the Abuse of the Powers of Public Servants. 

Of Contempts of the Lawful Authority of Public Servants. 

Of Offences against Public Justice. 

Of Offences relating to the Revenue. 

Of Offences relating to Coin. 

Of Offences relating to Weights and Measures. 

Of Offences affecting the Public Health, Safety and Con¬ 
venience. 

Of Offences relating to Religion and Caste. 

Of Illegal Entrance into and Residence in the Territories of the 
East India Company. 

Of Offences relating to the Press. 

Of Offences relating to the Human Body. 

Of Offences against Property. 

Of Offences relating to Documents. 

Of Offences relating to Property-marks. 

Of the Illegal Pursuit of Legal Rights. 

Of the Criminal Breach of Contracts of Service. 

Of Offences relating to Marriage. 

Of Defamation. 

Of Criminal Intimidation, Insult and Annoyance. 


The use of copious illustrations is just what we should 
have expected from Mr. Macaulay, and most of them were 
doubtless supplied by his own vivid and imaginative mind. 
Some of them are interesting, some ingenious, and some 
of them highly amusing. Some of the cases suggested 
certainly appear too trivial and absurd for serious legisla¬ 
tion. Such are the following :— 


216 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

“A,, a servant in Z/s house, having occasion to write a 
letter, dips a pen in ink, the property of Z. Here, though 
the act of A. may fall under the definition of theft, A. 
has committed no offence. 

“ A., a friend of Z., calls at Z/s house, in Z/s absence, 
and writes and seals several letters there with Z/s paper 
and wax without asking any person’s permission. Here, 
if the acquaintance between A. and Z. be such that, 
according to the usages of society, the consent of Z. to 
such use of his property must be implied thence, A. has 
committed no offence. 

“ A. gets into a public carriage in which Z. is sitting, 
and in seating himself slightly hurts Z. by pressing him 
against the side of the carriage. Here, though A/s act 
falls within the definition in Clause 316, yet, if the whole 
harm caused was so slight that no man of ordinary sense 
and temper would complain of such harm, A. has com¬ 
mitted no offence.” 

Probably also the following instances :— 

“ A. illegally omits to take proper order with a furious 
buffalo which is in his possession (see Clause 273), and 
thus voluntarily deters Z. from passing along a road along 
which Z. has a right to pass. A. wrongfully restrains Z. 

“A. threatens to set a savage dog at Z., if Z. goes 
along a path along which Z. has a right to go. Z. is thus 
prevented from going along that path. A. wrongfully 
restrains Z. 

“ In the last illustration, if the dog is not really savage, 
but if A. voluntarily causes Z. to think that it is savage, 
and thereby prevents Z. from going along the path, A. 
wrongfully restrains Z.” 

Some of the incidents ought to be classified together, 
and included under a chapter entitled “ Practical Jokes.” 


CASES OF PRACTICAL JOKES. 


217 


We wonder if the legislator, with irate feeling, was 
meditating on some ancient joke played upon him while a 
studious undergraduate by the banks of the Cam: 

“ Z. is sitting in a moored boat on a river. A. unfastens 
the moorings, and thus intentionally causes the boat to 
drift down the stream. Here A. intentionally causes 
motion to Z., and he does this by disposing substances in 
such a manner that the motion is produced without 
any other act on any person’s part. A. has therefore 
intentionally used force to Z.; and if he has done so 
without Z.’s consent, in order to the committing of any 
offence, or intending or knowing it to be likely that this 
use of force may cause injury, fear or annoyance to Z., 
A. has committed an assault.” 

This unfortunate individual, Z., has to suffer from 
another and even more unpleasant joke : 

“ Z. is bathing. A. pours into the bath water which he 
knows to be boiling. Here, A. intentionally by his own 
bodily power causes such motion in the boiling water as 
brings that water into contact with Z., or with other water 
so situated that such contact must affect Z.’s sense of 
feeling, A. has therefore intentionally used force to Z., 
and if he has done this without Z.’s consent, intending 
or knowing it to be likely that he may thereby cause 
injury, fear or annoyance to Z., A. has committed an 
assault.” 

Some of the incidents mentioned in the cases are 
highly dramatic. They may have been suggested by some 
good anecdote, or might afford material for a good story: 

“ Z. is carried off by a tiger. A. fires at the tiger, 
knowing it to be likely that the shot may kill Z., but not 
intending to kill Z., and in good faith intending Z.’s 
benefit. The tiger drops Z. It appears that A.’s ball 


218 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

lias given Z. a mortal wound. Nevertheless A. has com¬ 
mitted no offence. 

“ A., with the intention of causing Z. to he convicted 
of a criminal conspiracy, writes a letter in imitation of 
Z.'s handwriting, purporting to be addressed to an ac¬ 
complice in such criminal conspiracy, and puts the letter 
in a place which he knows that the officers of the police 
are likely to search. A. has fabricated false evidence.” 

Here we have the very case of Lady Macbeth and the 
grooms : 

“ A., after wounding a person with a knife, goes into the 
room where Z. is sleeping, smears Z.'s clothes with blood, 
and lays the knife under Z.'s pillow, intending not only 
that suspicion may thereby be turned away from himself, 
but also that Z. may be convicted of voluntarily causing 
grievous hurt. A. is liable to punishment as a fabricator 
of false evidence.” 

And here we have an incident in the life of our old 
favourite, Jack the Giant Killer. In Jack's case there 
were certainly ct extenuating circumstances : ” 

“ A. lays sticks and turf over a pit, with the intention 
of thereby causing death, or with the knowledge that 
death is likely to be thereby caused. Z., believing the 
ground to be firm, treads on it, falls in, and is killed. 
A. has committed the offence of voluntary culpable 
homicide.” 

We proceed to some legislature concerning certain 
points of morality which may arise in reference to books : 

“ A. takes up a book belonging to Z., and reads it, not 
having any right over the book, and not having the 
consent of any person entitled to authorise A. so to do. 
A. trespasses.” 

We think this is rather severe upon A. The proper 


CASES ABOUT BOOKS. 


219 


law would be, tliat A. should be held to trespass if lie did 
not lay down the book when told. The law would press 
with undue severity on the regular book-worm. 

“A. says of a book published by Z., Z/s book is 
foolish, Z. must be a weak man. Z/s book is indecent, 
Z. must be a man of impure mind/ A. is within this 
exception if he says this in good faith, inasmuch as the 
opinion which he expresses of Z. respects Z.’s character 
only so far as it appears in Z.’s book, and no further. 

“ A. being exasperated at a passage in a book which is 
lying on the counter of Z., a bookseller, snatches it up> 
and tears it to pieces. A. has not committed theft, as he 
has not acted fraudulently, though he may have committed 
criminal trespass and mischief. 

“ A., being on friendly terms with Z., goes into Z.’s 
library, in Z/s absence, and takes away a book without 
Z/s express consent. Here, it is probable that A. may 
have conceived that he had Z.’s implied consent to use 
Z.’s books. If this was A.’s impression, A. has not 
committed theft.” 

It may be regretted that Mr. Macaulay did not apply 
his legislation to those whom Sir Walter Scott called good 
book-keepers, though they might be bad arithmeticians, 
—with a kindred clause bearing reference to umbrellas. 

Next in order we have the notes, which in some eases 
would more properly deserve the name of essays. [First of 
these we have a very careful and luminous paper on the 
punishment of death: showing, with the force of absolute 
demonstration, the propriety of retaining it in cases of 
murder, and of abolishing it in all other cases. 

“ First among the punishments provided for offences by 
this code stands death. No argument that has been 
brought to our notice has satisfied us that it would be 


220 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 


desirable wholly to dispense with this punishment. But 
w r e are convinced that it ought to be very sparingly in¬ 
flicted ; and we propose to employ it only in cases where 
either murder or the highest offence against the State has 
been committed. 

“ We are not apprehensive that we shall be thought by 
many persons to have resorted too frequently to capital 
punishment; but we think it probable that many, even of 
those who condemn the English statute-book as sanguinary, 
may think that our code errs on the other side. They may 
be of opinion that gang-robbery and the cruel mutilation 
of the person ought to be punished with death. These 
are doubtless offences which, if we looked only at their 
enormity, at the evil which they produce, at the terror 
which they spread through society, at the depravity which 
they indicate, we might be inclined to punish capitally. 
But atrocious as they are, they cannot, as it appears to us, 
be placed in the same class with murder. To the great 
majority of mankind, nothing is so dear as life. And we 
are of opinion that to put robbers and mutilators on the 
same footing with murderers is an arrangement which 
diminishes the security of life. 

“ There is in practice a close connexion between murder 
and most of those offences which come nearest to murder 
in enormity. Those offences are almost always committed 
under such circumstances that the offender has it in his 
power to add murder to his guilt. They are often com¬ 
mitted under such circumstances that the offender has a 
temptation to add murder to his guilt. The same oppor¬ 
tunities, the same superiority of force, which enabled a 
man to rob, to mangle, or to ravish, will enable him to go 
further, and to despatch his victim. As he has almost 
always the power to murder, he will often have a strong 


ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. 


221 


motive to murder, inasmuch as by murder he may often 
hope to remove the only witness of the crime which he 
has already committed. If the punishment of the crime 
which he has already committed be exactly the same with 
the punishment of murder, he will have no restraining 
motive. A law which imprisons for robbery, and hangs 
for murder, holds out to robbers a strong inducement to 
spare the lives of those whom they have injured. A law 
which hangs for robbery, and which only hangs for 
murder, holds out, indeed, if it be rigorously carried into 
effect, a strong motive to deter men from robbery ; but as 
soon as a man has robbed, it holds out to him a strong 
motive to follow up his crime with a murder. 

“ If murder were punished with something more than 
simple death ; if the murderer were broken on the wheel 
or burned alive, there would not be the same objection to 
punishing with death those crimes which in atrocity 
approach nearest to murder. But such a system would be 
open to other objections so obvious that it is unnecessary 
to point them out. The highest punishment which we 
propose is the simple privation of life; and the highest 
punishment, be it what it may, ought not, for the reason 
which we have given, to be assigned to any crime against 
the person which stops short of murder. And it is hardly 
necessary to point out to his Lordship in Council how 
great a shock would be given to public feeling if, while we 
propose to exempt from the punishment of death the most 
atrocious personal outrages which stopped short of murder, 
w r e were to inflict that punishment even in the worst cases 
of theft, cheating or mischief. 

“ It will be seen that, throughout the code, wherever 
>we have made any offence punishable by transportation, 
we have provided that the transportation shall be for life. 


999 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


The consideration which has chiefly determined us to 
retain that mode of punishment is our persuasion that it 
is regarded by the natives of India, particularly by those 
who live at a distance from the sea, with peculiar fear. 
The pain which is caused by punishment is unmixed evil. 
It is by the terror which it inspires that it produces good; 
and perhaps no punishment inspires so much terror in 
proportion to the actual pain which it causes as the punish¬ 
ment of transportation in this country. Prolonged im¬ 
prisonment may be more painful in the actual endurance ; 
but it is not so much dreaded beforehand; nor does a 
sentence of imprisonment strike either the offender or the 
bystanders with so much horror as a sentence of exile 
beyond what they call the Black Water. This feeling, we 
believe, arises chiefly from the mystery which overhangs 
the fate of the transported convict. The separation re¬ 
sembles that which takes place at the moment of death. 
The criminal is taken for ever from the society of all wdio 
are acquainted with him, and conveyed by means of which 
the natives have but an indistinct notion over an element 
which they regard with extreme awe, to a distant country 
of which they know nothing, and from which he is never 
to return. It is natural that his fate should impress them 
with a deep feeling of terror. It is on this feeling that 
the efficacy of the punishment depends, and this feeling 
would be greatly weakened if transported convicts should 
frequently return, after an exile of seven or fourteen years, 
to the scene of their offences, and to the society of their 
former friends.” 

The proper punishment for delinquent Englishmen is 
banishment: 

“ As there are strong reasons for not punishing Euro¬ 
peans with imprisonment of the same description with 


ON THE PUNISHMENT OF THE PILLORY. 223 

which we propose to punish natives, so there are reasons 
equally strong for not suffering Europeans who have been 
convicted of serious crimes to remain in this country. As 
we are satisfied that nothing can add more strength to the 
Government, or can be more beneficial to the people, than 
the free admission of honest, industrious and intelligent 
Englishmen, so we are satisfied that no greater calamity 
could befall either the Government or the people than the 
influx of Englishmen of lawless habits and blasted cha¬ 
racter. Such men are of the same race and colour with 
the rulers of the country, they speak the same language, 
they wear the same garb. In all these things they differ 
from the great body of the population. It is natural and 
inevitable that in the minds of a people accustomed to be 
governed Ity Englishmen, the idea of an Englishman 
should be associated with the idea of Government. Every 
Englishman participates in the power of Government, 
though he holds no office. Ilis vices reflect disgrace on 
the Government, though the Government gives him no 
countenance.” 

On the punishment of the pillory : 

“ Of all punishments this is evidently the most unequal. 
It may be more severe than any punishment in the code. 
It may be no punishment at all. If inflicted on a man 
who has quick sensibility, it is generally more terrible 
than death itself. If inflicted on a hardened and impu¬ 
dent delinquent, who has often stood at the bar, and who 
has no character to lose, it is a punishment less serious 
than an hour of the treadmill. It derives all its terrors 
from the higher and better parts of the character of the 
sufferer; its severity is therefore in inverse proportion to 
the necessity for severity. An offender who, though he 
has been drawn into crime by temptation, has not yet 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


004, 


wholly given himself up to wickedness and discarded all 
regard for reputation, is an offender with whom it is gene¬ 
rally desirable to deal gently. He may still be reclaimed. 
He may still become a valuable member of society. On 
the other hand, the criminal for whom disgrace has no 
terrors, who dreads nothing but physical suffering, re¬ 
straint and privation, and who laughs at infamy, is the 
very criminal against whom the whole rigour of the law 
ought to be put forth. To employ a punishment which is 
more bitter than the bitterness of death to the man who 
has still some remains of virtuous and honourable feeling, 
and which is mere matter of jest to the utterly abandoned 
villain, appears to us most unreasonable.” 

On the question of receiving presents : 

“ The mere taking of presents by a public functionary, 
when it cannot be proved that such presents were corruptly 
taken, we have made penal only in one particular case, to 
which we shall hereafter call the attention of his Lordship 
in Council. We have not made the taking of presents by 
public functionaries generally penal; because, though we 
think that it is a practice which ought to be carefully 
watched and often severely punished, we are not satisfied 
that it is possible to frame any law on the subject which 
would not be rendered inoperative either by its extreme 
severity or by its extreme laxity. Absolutely to prohibit 
all public functionaries from taking presents would be to 
prohibit a son from contributing to the support of a father, 
a father from giving a portion with a daughter, a brother 
from extricating a brother from pecuniary difficulties. 
No government would wish to prevent persons intimately 
connected by blood, by marriage, or by friendship, from 
rendering services to each other; and no tribunals would 
enforce a law which should make the rendering of such 


SOME FURTHER CASES. 


225 


service a crime. Where no such close connexion exists, 
the receiving of large presents by a public functionary is 
generally a very suspicious proceeding; but a lime, a 
wreath of flowers, a slice of betel nut, a drop of atar of 
roses poured on his handkerchief, are presents which it 
would in this country be held churlish to refuse, and which 
cannot possibly corrupt the most mercenary of mankind. 
Other presents, of more value than these, may, on account 
of their peculiar nature, be accepted, without affording any 
ground for suspicion. Luxuries socially consumed, ac¬ 
cording to the usages of hospitality, are presents of this 
description ; it would be unreasonable to treat a man in 
office as a criminal, for drinking many rupees-wortli of 
champagne in a year, at the table of an acquaintance; 
though if he were to suffer one of his subordinates to 
accept even a single rupee in specie, he might deserve 
exemplary punishment.” 

Here are our old friends A. and Z. again. I have read 
a story in which the plot turns exactly upon such a case 
as is here set forth. In the story, which is supposed to 
be regulated by English law, no legal punishment reaches 
A.: 

“ Suppose it to be proved to the entire conviction of a 
criminal court that Z., the deceased, was in a very critical 
state of health; that A., the heir to Z/s property, had 
been informed by Z/s physicians that Z.’s recovery 
absolutely depended on his being kept quiet in mind, and 
that the smallest mental excitement would endanger his 
life; that A. immediately broke into Z/s sick room, and 
told him a dreadful piece of intelligence, which was a pure 
invention; that Z. went into fits, and died on the spot; 
that A. had afterwards boasted of having cleared the way 
for himself to a good property by this artifice; these 

Q 



226 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

things being fully proved, no judge could doubt that A. 
had voluntarily caused the death of Z.; nor do we per¬ 
ceive any reason for not punishing A. in the same manner 
in which he would have been punished if he had mixed 
arsenic in Z.’s medicine.” 

The ruling passion is always strong. There is even 
here a vein of allusion, drawn from western history. 

“ Again, suppose that A. makes a deliberate attempt to 
commit assassination; in the presence of numbers he aims 
a knife at the heart of Z., but the knife glances aside, and 
inflicts only a slight wound. This happened in the case 
of Jean Chatel, of Damien, of Guiscard, and of many 
other assassins of the most desperate character. In such 
cases there is no doubt whatever as to the intention.” 

Respecting a kind of assault. “ Such an assault pro¬ 
duced the Sicilian vespers; such an assault called forth 
the memorable blow of Wat Tyler. It is difficult to 
conceive any class of cases in which the intemperance of 
anger ought to be treated with greater lenity. So far, 
indeed, should we be from ranking a man who acted like 
Tyler with murderers, that we conceive that a judge 
would exercise a sound discretion in sentencing such a 
man to the lowest punishment fixed by the law for man¬ 
slaughter.” 

“ It does not appear to us that, where the murderous 
intention is made out, the severity of the hurt inflicted is 
a circumstance which ought to be considered in appor¬ 
tioning the punishment. It is undoubtedly a circum¬ 
stance which will be important as evidence. A Court 
will generally be more easily satisfied of the murderous 
intention of an assailant who has fractured a man’s skull, 
than of one who has only caused a slight contusion. But 
the proof might be complete. To take examples which 


ON THE FORMATION OF THE CODE. 227 

are universally known :—Harley was laid up more than 
twenty days by the wound which he received from 
Guiscard; the scratch which Damien gave to Louis the 
Fifteenth was so slight that it was followed by no feverish 
symptoms. Yet it will be allowed that it would be absurd 
to make a distinction between the two assassins on this 
ground.” 

“ If a critic described a writer as a plagiarist, the 
courts would not consider this as defamation without 
very strong proof of bad faith. But if it were proved 
that the critic had, like Lauder, interpolated passages 
in old books in order to bear out the charge of pla¬ 
giarism, the court would doubtless be of opinion that 
he had not criticised in good faith, and would convict 
him of defamation.” 

We ought to add one more quotation. “ We have not 
thought it desirable to take as the groundwork of the 
code any of the systems of law now in force in any part 
of India. We have, indeed, to the best of our ability, 
compared the code with all those systems, and we have 
taken suggestions from all; but we have not adopted a 
single provision merely because it formed a part of any 
of those systems. We have also compared our work with 
the most celebrated systems of Western jurisprudence, as 
far as the very scanty means of information which were 
accessible to us in this country enabled us to do so. We 
have derived much valuable assistance from the French 
code, and from the decisions of the French Courts of 
Justice on questions touching the construction of that 
code. We have derived assistance still more valuable 
from the code of Louisiana, prepared by the late Mr. 
Livingston. We are the more desirous to acknowledge 

our obligations to that eminent jurist, because we have 

Q 2 


228 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

found ourselves under the necessity of combating his 
opinions on some important questions/’ 

Upon the completion of the Penal Code, Mr. Macaulay 
proceeded to accomplish the design, so ardently cherished 
by every Indian, of returning home. The papers 
which criticised his coming, and were talking of his 
going away, more frequently than of the departure of 
any other person, were now angry with him because he 
was leaving. They pronounced that they had found him 
out; he was a man of “ no public virtue.” Just when 
he had amassed a fortune in India, just when he was 
beginning to rub off his inexperience, and really to be 
of some little use, he was going to play the part of a 
deserter. Henceforth he would never be able to hold up 
his face in Europe. He had ruined his character for 
life, &c. &c. Mr. Macaulay bore this trial without a 
syllable of rejoinder. He, in due season, embarked, it 
must be owned, amid an indifference that contrasted 
strangely with the enthusiasm that greeted his arrival, 
and with little public notice beyond a few insulting 
paragraphs in the papers. 

The question of the Black Act was brought before the 
House of Commons on the 22nd of March, 1838, by Mr. 
Ward. He presented a petition signed by 200 principal 
merchants, 200 native merchants, and 1400 British resi¬ 
dents. The petitioners undertook to prove that they had 
never been subject to Mofussil law, except when arranged 
by formal compact. Mr. Ward moved for a select com¬ 
mittee. The President of the Board of Control pointed out 
that the inhabitants of the cities of Calcutta, Bombay, and 
Madras, who had raised the agitation, were not affected bv 
the law, which applied only to the interior. This right 
of appeal, so highly valued, had only been resorted to in 


“BLACK ACT” BEFORE HOUSE OF COMMONS. 229 

two instances. He quoted a variety of authorities in 
favour of doing away with all distinctions among the 
inhabitants of India. He made some severe strictures 
on the Supreme Courts. Sir Charles Grey, who had pre¬ 
sided over one of these Courts, although he attacked 
Sir John Hobhouse would vote against the motion. In 
the course of the debate, Mr. Wynn severely condemned 
the rhetorical amplification in which Mr. Macaulay had 
indulged while speaking of the Supreme Court. Ulti¬ 
mately Mr. Ward thought it best to consent to withdraw 
his motion, Sir John Hobhouse engaging to lay on the 
table the Minutes of Council on which the Act was 
founded. 

The news of the kind of reception accorded to the 
petition in England, and more especially the publication 
of Mr. Macaulay^s minutes, excited a very strong feeling 
in the Calcutta communities. One particular individual 
appears to have reaped the only substantial advantage of 
the agitation. This was the gentleman to whom was 
entrusted the care of the petition, and who proceeded to 
London on the business. He received, at least, two thou¬ 
sand pounds, got into practice at the bar, and received, 
we believe, a good appointment. 

A public meeting, convened by the Sheriff, was held in 
the Town Hall on the 24th of November, at which it was 
resolved to petition both Houses of Parliament again for 
the repeal of the Act XI. of 1836, described in the Requi¬ 
sition to the Sheriff as “ commonly called the Black Act.” 
It was further resolved to pray that the petitioners be 
heard by counsel at the bar of both Houses; to open a 
subscription to defray the expenses of employing a per¬ 
manent agent and counsel in England, and of forwarding 
the petitions, and that Mr. Crawford be requested to 


230 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

act as agent; lastly, that the said Thomas Babington 
Macaulay hath, as fourth Ordinary Member of the Council 
of India and India Law Commissioner, wilfully, mali¬ 
ciously, and in breach of his duty as such councillor, 
advised the Government of India to make laws contrary 
to the unwritten law and constitution of the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, whereon doth 
depend, in a high degree, the allegiance of all British 
subjects to the Crown of the United Kingdom; and we 
record it to be our deliberate conviction that the said 
Thon^as Babington Macaulay has forfeited all claim to 
the confidence of his countrymen, has disgraced his 
country, and has proved himself the enemy of India.” 

We quote from a paper, The Friend of India, a periodi¬ 
cal which we have had occasion to mention with respect, 
and whose candid criticism on Mr. Macaulay is frequently 
of value, some remarks which doubtless reflect faithfully 
the opinions of the better and less prejudiced portion of 
Indian society. As a contemporary document it is of 
much interest:— 

“ We regret much that circumstances beyond our con¬ 
trol prevented our offering a few remarks last week on 
the observations of our contemporaries, regarding the 
treatment of Mr. Macaulay by the Calcutta press. We 
had at first intended to publish a catalogue of the terms 
applied to Mr. Macaulay’s public conduct as a member 
of the Supreme Government, but when we had entered 
upon the task, and found at the very outset the terms 
charlatan, cheat, swindler, associated with his name, and 
that he was charged with having taken money upon false 
pretences, we confess we had no heart for the unpleasant 
task, and cheerfully dropped it. Our reason for raising 
our protest against such language was that there appeared 


MODERATE LANGUAGE OF THE “ FRIEND OF INDIA/’ 231 

nothing in Mr. Macaulay’s official conduct to justify it; 
and though we have incurred the censure of our brethren 
by the course we have pursued, we must still affirm that 
no valid grounds have been advanced for this extraor- 
y and unwonted bitterness. He was appointed 
under the provisions of the last Charter the fourth mem¬ 
ber of Council, and his duties were limited bv Act of 

«/ 

Parliament to sitting and voting in Council when it sat 
in its legislative capacity. It is true that the circle of 
Mr. Macaulay’s duties was extremely and ridiculously 
narrow; but it was the Act that reduced them within so 
small a circumference. There can be no doubt from the 
character and attainments of Mr. Macaulay, that he 
would cheerfully have taken a share in the political 
deliberations of the Supreme Council; but the Act for¬ 
bade it. He was not even appointed to frame laws, but 
simply to vote upon them after they had been drawn up. 
If Mr. Macaulay neglected the duties attached to his 
office, if he refused to give his assistance when new laws 
were under discussion, or even if he impeded generally 
the course of legislation, he was culpable. If not, upon 
what ground is this outcry raised against him ? It is 
said that some of the laws which were passed during the 
period of his incumbency were pernicious. Granting, for 
the sake of argument, that this is the case, why, in all 
fairness, why, in all fairness, is he to be singled out from 
among the five members of Council to bear the brunt of 
the obloquy which has been attached to them ? ” 

There can be no doubt that the Calcutta press did not 
err in attributing the lion’s share of the legislation to 
Mr. Macaulay. He was not the man to receive many 
thousand pounds for work which he would inefficiently 
perform, not yet the man to abdicate the leading position 


232 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


to which his talents and his rank entitled him. The 
uncontradicted popular language of the day, and still 
more the internal evidence, unquestionably demonstrate 
the main authorship of such legislation, at least as that 
from which we have quoted. In regard to the questions 
at issue between himself and the Calcutta community, 
it is beyond our province minutely to discuss these points 
of difference. To give a fair and accurate judgment, it 
would probably be necessary to arbitrate between the two. 
Mr. Macaulay appears to have estimated with too great 
a degree of contempt both the numbers and the argu¬ 
ments of his opponents. 

We give some extracts from his minutes. Although 
now forgotten, probably because they are practicably inac¬ 
cessible, they excited much attention and admiration at 
the time. As state papers they are sufficiently unusual, 
and remarkable on account of their eloquence and vitu¬ 
perative tone. Our readers will remember that they are 
essentially special pleading. But remembering this, at the 
same time that we admire their masterly ability we must 
also feel the substantial justice of his case, and recognise 
a further proof of the writer's honesty and public spirit. 

“ Till the passing of Act XI. of 1836, an Englishman 
at Agra or Benares who owed a small debt to a native, 
who had beaten a native, who had come with a body of 
bludgeon-men and ploughed up a native's land, if sued 
by the injured party for damages, was able to drag that 
party before the Supreme Court, a court which, in one 
most important point, the character of the judges, stands 
as high as any court can stand, but which in every other 
respect I believe to be the worst in India, the most 
dilatory, and the most ruinously expensive. Judicial 
corruption indeed is a most frightful evil, yet it is not the 


mr. macaulay’s minutes on the subject. 233 


worst of evils. A court may be corrupt, aud yet it may 
do much good; indeed, there is scarcely any court so 
corrupt as not to do much more justice than injustice; 
for there is no reason to believe that the party who is in 
the right will be less able to fee the judge than the party 
who is in the wrong, and, ceteris 'paribus, the worst judge 
will, from selfish motives, decide rightly rather than 
wrongly. Thus we see that in many countries, and 
through many ages, society is held together, order is pre¬ 
served, property is accumulated, though the courts con¬ 
stantly receive bribes, and occasionally pervert judgment. 

“A sullied stream is a blessing compared to a total 
drought: and a court may be worse than corrupt,—it 
may be inaccessible. The expenses of litigation in 
England are so heavy, that people sit down quietly 
under wrongs, and submit to losses, rather than go to 
law : and yet the English are the richest people in the 
world. The people of India are poor; and the expense 
of litigation in the Supreme Court is five times as great 
as the expenses of litigation at Westminster. An unde¬ 
fended cause, which might be prosecuted successfully in 
the Court of King's Bench for about 8/. sterling, cannot 
be prosecuted in the Supreme Court under 40/. sterling. 
Where an English barrister receives a guinea, a barrister 
receives here two gold mohurs, more than three guineas. 
For making a motion of course an English barrister 
receives half a guinea; a barrister here receives a gold 
mohur. Officers of the court are enabled to accumulate 
in a few years, out of the substance of ruined suitors, 
fortunes larger than the oldest and most distinguished 
servant of the Company can expect to carry home after 
thirty or forty years of eminent services. I speak of 
Bengal, where the system is now in full operation. At 


234 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

Madras the Supreme Court has, I believe, fulfilled its 
mission; it has done its work ; it has beggared every rich 
native within its jurisdiction, and is inactive for want of 
somebody to ruin. This is not all: great as the evils of 
the Supreme Court usually are, they are exaggerated by 
the apprehensions of the natives to a still more frightful 
magnitude. The terror with which it is regarded by 
them is notorious. Within the last few months, in con¬ 
sequence of an attempt made by some persons connected 
with that court to extend its jurisdiction over the suburbs 
of Calcutta, hundreds of respectable and wealthy natives 
petitioned the Government in language indicating the 
greatest dismay. To give to every English defendant in 
every civil cause a right to bring the native plaintiff 
before the Supreme Court, is to give to every dishonest 
Englishman an immunity against almost all civil prose¬ 
cution. It is true that such appeals are scarcely ever 
heard of. There have, as yet, been only two actually 
brought to a hearing. But it is the opinion of some of 
the most experienced servants of the Company that the 
threat of appealing has been often employed, and em¬ 
ployed with success, by dishonest debtors agninst honest 
claimants. And I am quite certain, from what I have 
myself seen of the dread with which natives regard the 
Supreme Court, and from what I myself know of the 
expenses of that court, that the threat would in a great 
proportion of cases be successful. 

“I conceive, therefore, that the act is good in itself, 
and that the time for passing it has been well chosen. 
The strongest reason, however, as I formerly said, for 
passing it was the nature of the opposition which it 
experienced. Approved by the Government of Madras, 
Bombay, and Agra, approved by the body of the civil 


HE DENOUNCES THE SUPREME COURT. 


285 


service, not disapproved by those English settlers to 
whom alone its provisions applied, it has been violently 
assailed by a portion of the English inhabitants of Cal¬ 
cutta. In this petition they have not taken quite so 
reprehensible a tone as in their memorials addressed to 
the Indian Government; hut the same spirit of caste, the 
same love of oligarchical domination, disguising itself 
under the phraseology which in England we are accus¬ 
tomed to hear only from the most zealous supporters of 
popular rights, may he seen in both. While the excite¬ 
ment, which has now completely subsided, was in its full 
force, the organs of the opposition repeated every day 
that the English were the conquerors, the lords of the 
country, the dominant race, the electors of the House of 
Commons, whose legislative power extends both over the 
company at home and over the Governor-General in 
council here. The constituents of the British legisla¬ 
ture, they told us, were not to he hound by laws made 
by any inferior authority. The firmness with which the 
Government withstood the idle outcry of two or three 
hundred people about a matter with which they had 
nothing to do, was designated as insolent defiance of 
public opinion. We were enemies of freedom because 
we would not suffer a small white aristocracy to domineer 
over millions. 

“ How utterly at variance these principles are with 
reason, with justice, with the honour of the British 
Government, and with the dearest interests of the Indian 
people, it is unnecessary for me to point out, either to 
my colleagues or to the Honourable Court. For myself, 
I can only say, that if the government is to he conducted 
on such principles, I am utterly disqualified, by all my 
feelings and opinions, from hearing any part in it, and 


236 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY* 


cannot too soon resign my place to some person better 
fitted to hold it. 

“ The petitioners say that the East India Company has 
always been opposed to the free trade and settlement of 
the English in India, and they therefore conceive it to be 
a great hardship that they should be placed under the 
Company’s courts. 

“This is an ingenious attempt to confound two things 
which are in themselves widely different, and which the 
English Parliament and nation are likely to regard with 
very different feelings. The jealousy of interlopers, 
which the Company felt while the Company was still a 
commercial body, was natural, and not inexcusable; but 
it was a feeling not likely in any age to meet with much 
sympathy from the public: and the spirit of our age is so 
strongly, and, as I think, justly, opposed to restrictions 
on trade, that an interloper thwarted and depressed by 
a powerful monopolist is sure to have the general voice 
on his side. 

“But is it just or reasonable to advert to a state of 
things which has wholly passed away, for the purpose of 
raising a cry against the Indian Government ? The 
Company is no longer the competitor of the private mer¬ 
chant ; it has ceased to be a commercial body; it is now 
merely a ruling body, and as such it has no interest to 
exclude from its dominions any class of people who are 
likely to make those dominions more flourishing by 
carrying thither the arts and industry of Europe. 

“ As to the apprehension which the petitioners express, 
that the effect of this enactment mav be to deter Euro- 

4/ 

peans from settling in India, I cannot do better than to 
quote the language of a most valuable servant of the 
Company, the late lamented Mr. Mill. That gentleman 


PROPER JEALOUSY. 


237 


was asked by tlie Committee of the House of Commons 
which sat on Indian affairs in 1832, whether he did not 
conceive that the total abolition of the King’s courts 
would prevent Europeans from settling in the interior ? 
llis answer was—‘ Bv no means. I think the same 
motives which carry them into the interior now, as far 
as their objects are honest and justifiable, would carry 
them still: and if they go there for the gain of mis¬ 
conduct and oppression, it is very much to be desired 
that they should not go at all/ 

“ It is impossible that any rational person can be so 
prejudiced against the Company and its servants as really 
to believe that, having given up all connection with trade, 
they are still jealous of all other traders. 

“ But there is a jealousy widely different from the old 
commercial jealousy of which the Company is invidiously 
and unfoundedly accused by the petitioners,—a jealousy 
which it is their duty, and that of all who are in authority 
under them, to entertain. That jealousy is not the 
jealousy of a merchant afraid of being undersold, but 
the jealousy of a ruler afraid that the subjects, for whose 
well-being he is answerable, should be pillaged and 
oppressed. India has been subjugated by English arms, 
and is governed by English functionaries. To be an 
Englishman is, therefore, a rank in India. Nor is this 
all. Those qualities which enabled us to conquer, and 
which now enable us to govern the country, that valour, 
that resolution, that intelligence, that closeness of union, 
that marked superiority, both in mental and physical 
energy, which reared our empire, and which have upheld 
it, make every individual Englishman a formidable object 
to the native population. Under these circumstances, 
there is reason to fear that a tyranny of the worst sort— 


238 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

the tyranny of race over race—may be the effect of the 
free admission of British settlers into our provinces. 
This apprehension the British Parliament evidently enter¬ 
tained when it passed the Charter Act; and if any person 
is inclined to think it an unfounded apprehension, I 
would refer him to the writings and speeches to which 
this very act has given occasion. In those speeches and 
writings it will not be difficult for him to detect, under 
the disguise of expressions which in England are gene¬ 
rally employed by demagogues, the spirit of an oligarchy 
as proud and exclusive as that of Venice itself. 

“ Against that spirit it is the first duty of the Govern¬ 
ment to make a firm stand. I, at least, will make no 
concession to it; and I most earnestly hope that the 
unflinching and uncompromising resistance which I have, 
in common with my colleagues, felt it my duty to offer to 
demands made in that spirit, will be approved by the 
Honourable Court. I hope so, not principally on my 
own account, though their approbation must always be 
most gratifying to me, but because I am convinced that 
on the course which they may take the dearest interests 
of this empire depend. 

“ In all ages and countries, a great town which is the 
seat of government is likely to exercise an influence on 
public measures disproportioned to its real importance. 
This is no evil if the interests, the opinions, and the feelings 
of the population of such a town coincide with those of 
the population of the empire; but in India, unfortunately, 
while the influence of the society of the capital on the 
government is greater than in almost any other country, 
the interests, feelings, and opinions of that society are 
often diametrically opposed to those of the mass of the 
people. Calcutta is an English colony in the midst of an 


DENOUNCES THE OUTCRY OF CALCUTTA. 239 

oriental population. Here we are surrounded by men of 
the same race and colour with ourselves—by men wlio 
speak and write our language—by men who constantly cor¬ 
respond with the country to which we all hope to return. 
That the favourable and unfavourable opinions of such 
men should affect us more than the opinion of crowds of 
foreigners, of heathens, of blacks; that the execrations 
of whole provinces in the Mofussil should wound our 
feelings less than a scurrilous article in a Calcutta news¬ 
paper ; that the benedictions of whole provinces should 
gratify us less than a complimentary address from fifty or 
sixty of our own countrymen, is, I fear, but too natural. 
To overcome these feelings—to take greater interest in 
the many who are separated from us by strong lines of 
distinction, than in a few to whom we are bound by close 
ties; to brave the clamorous censure of those who sur¬ 
round us, for the purpose of serving those whose praises 
we shall never hear, is no more than our duty; but it is 
a duty in the performance of which we have, I think, a 
peculiar claim on the home authorities for support and 
encouragement. We have now, in defiance of misrepre¬ 
sentation, abuse, and calumny, passed a law, which is 
considered by ourselves, by the late Governor-General, 
by the Governor in Council of Madras, by the Governor 
in Council of Bombay, by all, or almost all, the civil 
servants of the Company, as a law beneficial to the great 
body of the people. The English settlers in the Mofussil, 
the English at the towns of Madras and Bombay, are, to 
all appearance, contented with it; the English population 
of Calcutta alone, led on by a class of men who live by 
the worst abuses of the worst Court in the world, have 
raised an outcry against us. If that outcry be successful, 
the prospects of this country will be dark indeed; but I 


240 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

know the Honourable Court and the British Legislature 
too well to think that it can be successful; and I con¬ 
fidently expect that we shall receive on this occasion such 
support as may encourage us, and those who shall succeed 
us, when legislating for the general good of India, to 
disregard the clamour of Calcutta. 


“ (Signed) T. B. Macaulay,” 


CHAPTER VIII. 


DEATH OF ZACHARY MACAULAY. 

While the vessel was sailing the seas that should bring 
back Mr. Macaulay from the East to the stir and activity 
of our western life, a great loss was to befall him. During 
the time of his passage back his father died. It is greatly 
to be regretted that no formal biography of his life has 
been attempted; a biography which, in some points of 
view, would be even more valuable than any that could be 
written of his son. He was a man who had been exposed 
to most violent obloquy, and that obloquy urged with a 
precision of detail which at the first blush conveys an 
impression of verisimilitude. Eor this unfavourable view, 
and criticisms on the Sierra Leone firm of Babington and 
Macaulay, we might refer our readers to some papers by 
Mr. MacQueen in some early volumes of Blackwood’s 
Magazine. The character of English public men is pre¬ 
cious, and it is to be regretted that a distinct issue was 
not raised and tried. Nevertheless, there remains an 
amount of testimony to the character and virtues of 
Zachary Macaulay that amply vindicates his fair fame, and 
places his name high on the list of the benefactors of the 
human family. The evidence of Mr. Henry Drummond 
on one question is as important as it is unimpeachable. 
“ He,” (Zachary- Macaulay), writes Henry Drummond, 
“ has been more slandered than any individual of my 


242 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

acquaintance, witli less adventitious power of resisting 
calumny than even Mr. Wilberforce; and, therefore, I 
ever felt it especially incumbent upon me to stand by 
him, and throw in my lot with his. Macaulay is a 
staunch friend, and one of the very very few men I have 
met with in this false world on whom I felt I could 
depend, if ever I should have been thrown into circum¬ 
stances to require more than the name. Such a loss is 
not to be replaced.” So far from Mr. Macaulay having 
been actuated by the personal motives so lavishly imputed 
to him by the West Indian party, his conduct ever appears 
to have been in the highest degree disinterested. When 
at a public and influential meeting at Freemason’s Hall 
in 1812, already mentioned, it was resolved to present to 
Mr. Macaulay a piece of plate of the value of one hundred 
guineas—Mr. Macaulay, while accepting it, deposited 
the value in the Society’s treasury, that the institution 
might be no loser. On another occasion, when a large 
share of a slave prize was legally due to him, he relin¬ 
quished it all to the revenue officers that he might quicken 
their diligence. He resigned a lucrative agency, that fell 
to him in his business as a merchant, that he might not 
indirectly encourage slavery. Nor were his labours con¬ 
fined to the anti-slavery cause alone. He took an active 
share in all those schemes of benevolence which distin¬ 
guished the times in which he lived; and his contributions 
in relief of individual distress were made with a liberality 
that exceeded expectation. His practical ability was very 
great, which he showed as a Fellow of the Royal Society, 
as a promoter of education, as a Commissioner of Charities, 
and as one of the founders of the University of London. 
Singularly deficient in vivacity, and in the power of pro¬ 
ducing the kind of literature which people care to read— 


MR. GLADSTONE. 


243 


as an expositor of details, and as a close reasoner, his 
ability was very great. His power of getting through 
business, and the amount of business he transacted, was 
wonderful. To people less busy, less deeply impressed 
with the importance of time, and less occupied by weighty 
matters, his taciturn calmness often operated as a rebuke, 
and was offensive. One young man, whose volubility was 
checked by gruff monosyllables, was surprised by receiving 
a note which displayed much instinctive delicacy of feel¬ 
ing : “ My dear Sir,—When you did me the favour to call, 
I was so much pressed for time, and so much oppressed 
with business, that I fear I may have looked or spoken 
repulsively. If so, forgive it: I did not mean it.” * 

Other testimonies might be quoted to the worth of Mr. 
Macaulay. In the House of Commons Mr. Gladstone 
once said: “ I can only speak from tradition of the 
struggle for the abolition of slavery; but if I have not 
been misinformed, there was engaged in it a man who 
was an unseen ally of Mr. Wilberforce, and the pillar of 
his strength—a man of profound benevolence, of acute 
understanding, of indefatigable industry; and of that self- 
denying temper which is content to work in secret, to 
forego the recompence of present fame, and to seek its 
reward beyond the grave.” But the notice of Mr. 
Zachary Macaulay that surpasses all others in interest 
is to be found in Sir James Stephen's articles on the 
Clapliam Sect in the Edinburgh Review , afterwards 
reprinted, with additions, in the volume of Collected 
Essays. He speaks of the faith approaching to supersti¬ 
tion, and the love rising to enthusiasm, which existed 
towards a man whose demeanour was so inanimate, if not 

Memoir of Z. Macaulay, Esq., in Christian Observer , 1889. 


•» 


244 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

austere. e< His name will be ever dear to those who hate 
injustice. It will be especially dear to the few who 
closely observed, and who can yet remember, how that 
self-devotion became the poetical element of a mind not 
naturally imaginative ; what deep significance it imparted 
to an aspect and a demeanour not otherwise impressive; 
what energy to a temper which, if not so excited, might 
perhaps have been phlegmatic; what unity of design to a 
mind constitutionally discursive; and what dignity even 
to physical languor and suffering contracted in such a 
service. They can never forget that the most implacable 
enemy of the tyrants of the plantation and of the slave- 
ship, was the most indulgent and generous and constant 
of friends ; that he spurned, as men should spurn, the 
mere pageantry of life, that he might use, as men should 
use, the means which life affords of advancing the happi¬ 
ness of mankind ; that his earthward affections, active and 
all-enduring as they were, could yet thrive without the 
support of human sympathy, because they were sustained 
by so abiding a sense of the Divine presence, and so 
absolute a submission to the Divine will, as raised him 
habitually to that higher region where the reproach of 
man could not reach, and the praise of man might not 
presume to follow him.” Zachary Macaulay died at his 
house in Clarges Street on the 16th of May, 1838, in the 
seventy-first year of his age. There is a monument to 
his memory in Westminster Abbey. 

His illustrious son arrived in England next month, in 
the ship Lord Hungerford. This was shortly before the 
coronation of the youthful Queen. He afterwards went 
abroad and travelled iu Italy. He there derived the accu¬ 
rate knowledge of localities which he turned to such ex¬ 
cellent account in the descriptive part of the Lays of 


HIS CONNECTION WITH EDINBURGH. 


245 


Ancient Rome. Lord Macaulay always carefully studied 
the sceneiy and locality of historical events, and well knew 
their value in conveying vivid and accurate impressions. 
In the course of the composition of his history he visited 
various places, sometimes taking up an unobserved resi¬ 
dence for weeks together while pursuing his careful 
observations. 

The elevation of Mr. Abercrombie to the peerage had 
created a vacancy in the representation of Edinburgh. 
The following letter of his to Mr. Black tells the story of 
the commencement of his connection with Edinburgh : * 

“ London, May 1 6th, 1839. 

“ Dear Sir,— I have seldom been more gratified than 
by your letter, and, whatever may be the result of our 
correspondence, I shall always reflect with pleasure on 
such proofs of esteem and good-will from such a quarter. 
Unconnected as I am with Edinburgh, I should never 
have thought of offering myself as a candidate; and, when 
my friend Napier first mentioned to me your suggestion, 
though I was pleased with it as a compliment, I considered 
it as nothing else. If, however, I could be seated in the 
House of Commons, as a representative of your noble 
city, I should be in the very situation which, of all situa¬ 
tions, would be most agreeable to my feelings. I should 
be able to take part in politics, as an independent member 
of Parliament, with the weight and authority which 
belongs to a man who speaks in the name of a great 
and intelligent body of constituents. I should, during 
half the year, be at leisure for other pursuits, to which I 

* This letter is given in Mr. Black’s edition of Lord Macaulay’s Bio¬ 
graphies. I am obliged to Mr. Black for permission to make an extract 
or two from his interesting Preface. 


246 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

am more inclined, and for which, perhaps, I am better 
fitted; and I should be able to complete an extensive 
literary work which I have long meditated. If I w r ere 
Member for Edinburgh, I should, I assure you, be quite 
as unwilling to be in place, as my constituents could be to 
see me there. I have already, since my return from 
India, declined one lucrative and honourable office, that 
of Judge Advocate ; and I think I may safely venture to 
promise that I never will hold any office, however high, 
except under circumstances under which it would be wrong 
and dishonourable to decline it. I dislike the restraints of 
official life ; I love freedom, leisure, and letters. Salary 
is no object to me, for my income, though small, is suffi¬ 
cient for a man who has no ostentatious tastes. And I 
have no doubt that, at the present moment, my public 
duty and private inclination coincide, and that I should 
be of more use to the Government out of place than in it. 

“ I shall be glad to hear what course things take. The 
Speaker, I believe, has, after some hesitation, made up his 
mind to go to the House of Lords. Mr. Fox Maule and 
the Marquis of Lansdowne have just assured me of this. 
If so, the new writ for Edinburgh will probably be ordered 
on Friday week, the 24th. On one point it is fit that I 
should explain myself with the utmost clearness—I mean 
the pecuniary parts of the business. I cannot spend 
more than 500Z. on the election. When I name this sum 
I go to the very farthest limit—perhaps beyond what is 
proper. If, therefore, there be any probability that the 
candidate will be required to pay more than this, I hope 
that you will, without delay, look round for another 
person. 

Believe me, &c., 

" T. B. Macaulay/’ 


THE ‘ TIMES ’ ATTACKS MR. MACAULAY. 247 

At tills period The Times began to honour him with a 
steady course of abuse. We reprint one of their articles 
as an illustration of the history of the time^ and as a speci¬ 
men of political literature. The injustice of the offensive 
imputations will be at once recognised in the attacks on his 
career and the charge of Whig jobbery. The writer either 
knew or could easily have known the truth; but in times 
of political excitement, political morality is at a low ebb. 

“ The mission of Mr. Thomas Babington Macaulay to 
India was, morally considered, there is reason for believing, 
a nefarious job : financially considered, a most prodigal 
and unprofitable waste of the public money. Mr. Thomas 
Babington Macaulay, poor in fortune—which was very 
far from being a reproach to him, unblemished in repu¬ 
tation—which was much to his honour, and rich in acquire¬ 
ments of a showy and splashy description—amongst them, 
is that of an immense and inexhaustible vocabulary, 
adapted to all the demands of Parliamentary declamation 
—this gentleman was sent to India by the f Reform , Go¬ 
vernment, for the ostensible, though somewhat vague, 
purpose of legislation, codification, juridical revolu¬ 
tion, without control or limit—that is, for effecting all 
manner of changes in the relations of all ranks and all 
races of men throughout our vast Indian Empire, towards 
each other, according to his own supreme will; to the 
dictates of a genius alternately rioting in abstraction, and 
enslaved by crotchety prepossessions upon difficult subjects 
of civil policy, of which, in the nature of things, he must 
be practically and profoundly ignorant. The only definite 
and simple characteristic of the mission provided for this 
party speech maker was, that he was secured in the enjoy¬ 
ment of 10,000Z. per annum—the absence of the lion, and 
learned gentleman in India having continued for about 


218 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 

three years. He lias, therefore, absorbed a sum of money 
equal at least to 30,000/. sterling from the public purse. 
There is, at the same time, little difference of opinion, by 
what we can learn, as to the sort of return which he has 
made for it, in his capacity of a Hindoo lawgiver. 

“ The learned gentleman has so contrived it, that by 
virtue of the exercise of his power as a Whig-Radical 
codifier, he has thrown the whole European community of 
British India into a blaze of exasperation and confusion— 
leaving the scene of his reckless experiment and his un¬ 
blushing emolument with the renown of being, as a 
member of society, more disliked, and as a public func¬ 
tionary more execrated, than any Englishman that ever 
left the shores of the Thames to visit those of the Ganges. 
We have now before us the proceedings of a public 
meeting, held at Calcutta on the 24th of last November, 
wdierein the achievements of Mr. Babington Macaulay 
appear to have been discussed and analysed pretty much 
in detail, and where resolutions were passed expressive of 
the general sense entertained of Mr. Macaulay’s title to 
the enormous wealth and power bestowed upon him as the 
regenerator of the peninsula of Hindostan. We may 
take another opportunity of exhibiting more minutely the 
sentiments of the British inhabitants of Calcutta towards 
this personage, and of publishing to the electors of Edin¬ 
burgh the political prospects which they may expect to 
realise, by choosing him for their representative in the 
Imperial House of Commons. 

“ Mr. Babington Macaulay has become the ministerial 
candidate for the Metropolis of Scotland, vice the late 
Speaker. It is to be hoped that on the election banners 
of this voluble Whig the following words may be in¬ 
scribed, from one of his own minutes upon the rights of 


HIS SPEECH AT EDINBURGH. 


249 


our countrymen in the East, viz.:— f We know tliat India 
cannot have a free government, but she may have the 
next best thing—a firm and impartial despotism/ So 
much for the constitutional spirit of a thorough Downing- 
street Whig. So much for the popular candidate of 
Auld Reekie.” 

We give the eloquent words of the conclusion of one 
of his addresses to the electors of Edinburgh. It is 
impossible not to admire their sincerity and impassioned 
earnestness. They make us the more regret that he 
gave up to Party so much that was intended for man¬ 
kind. Mr. Macaulay was at times very severe on what he 
used to call the Bosvjelliana lues, but unhappily his own 
public life was a huge political Boswellism. 

“ I look with pride on all that the Whigs have done 
for the cause of human freedom, and of human happi¬ 
ness. I see them now hard pressed, struggling with 
difficulties, but still fighting the good fight. At their 
head I see men who have inherited the spirit and the 
virtues, as well as the blood, of old champions and 
martyrs of freedom. To these men I propose to attach 
myself. Delusion may triumph, but the triumphs of 
delusion are but for a day. We may be defeated; but 
our principles will only gather fresh strength from 
defeats. Be that, however, as it may, my part is taken. 
While one shred of the old banner is flying, by that 
banner will I at least be found. The good old cause, as 
Sidney called it on the scaffold, vanquished or victorious, 
insulted or triumphant—the good old cause is still the 
srood old cause with me. Whether in or out of Parlia- 
ment—whether speaking with that authority which must 
always belong to the representative of this great and 
enlightened community, or expressing the humble senti- 


250 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

merits of a private citizen, I will to the last maintain 
inviolate my fidelity to principles which though they may 
be borne down for a time by senseless clamour, are yet 
strong with the strength and immortal with the immor¬ 
tality of truth, and which, however they may be mis¬ 
understood or misrepresented by contemporaries, will 
assuredly find justice from a better age. . . ” 

On this point we may refer to the aspect of political 
parties at the date when Mr. Macaulay re-entered the 
House of Commons. The Whig party wdiich he had left 
so numerous, powerful, and united, had fallen into weak¬ 
ness and popular contempt by their own dissensions, and 
the growing political weight of their opponents. Their 
first fall had taken place at the conclusion of the session, 
at the commencement of which Mr. Macaulay had 
departed for India. When the elevation of Lord Althorp 
to the Upper House had rendered some changes in the 
administration necessary, the King took advantage of the 
circumstances to dismiss the ministry. Then occurred 
that famous posture of affairs when the Duke of Wel¬ 
lington assumed the management of every department 
in the State, wdiile the travelling carriage was rolling 
onward from Rome that contained the future Premier. 
Unfortunately the great men who had seceded from 
the last ministry—Lord Stanley and Sir James Graham 
—were unwilling to join Sir Robert, lest their conduct 
should be exposed to misconstruction. Early next year, 
therefore, the Melbourne Ministry was re-instated with 
the important omission of Lord Brougham, whom one 
great political mistake deprived of his influence in the 
country; and others have ever since debarred him from 
the public service. It was understood that the King 
had expressly stipulated that Lord Brougham should not 


SYDNEY SMITH ON LORD MELBOURNE. 


251 


again be Chancellor. Lord Melbourne with his poco- 
curanteism , contrasted but poorly with the stately 
abilities and moral dignity of Sir Robert Peel. Sydney 
Smith has sketched his character with all the wisdom 
that characterised his wit :—“ Carelessness is but a poor 
imitation of genius. . . . Everything about him seems 

to betoken careless desolation; every one would suppose 
from his manner that he was playing at chuck-farthing 
with human happiness; that he would giggle away the 
Great Charter, and decide by the method of tee-totum 
whether my lords the bishops should retain their seats 
in the House of Lords. . . . He is nothing more 

than a man of good understanding and good principles, 
disguised in the eternal and somewhat wearisome affec¬ 
tation of a political roue.” For some sessions of his 
ministry, its history is of its own powerlessness, and the 
obstructiveness of the Opposition. It was forced into 
desperate straits, and was unahle to carry the measures 
on which it staked its political existence. There was 
great truth in the Tory assertion, that the country was 
virtually without a government. Then came the death 
of the sailor king, from the last of his annual attacks of 
hay fever; and a young girl of simple manners, blame¬ 
less life, and gracious heart, came to the throne, and was 
greeted by a loyalty that at once rose into a passionate 
enthusiasm, which burns now even as at the moment of 
her accession. Yet the popularity was imperilled by the 
early events of the reign. The Whigs endeavoured to 
make political capital of the royal name. As might 
naturally be expected from the inexperience and ami¬ 
ability of the Queen, she was at once disposed to meet 
with the utmost kindliness and regard the nobleman 
whom she found in the position of her First Minister. 


252 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

The ungenerous return made to their trusting sovereign, 
was the design to make her the creature of a coterie. 
They surrounded her with their wives, sisters, and 
daughters: tliev made unwarrantable use of her name 
on the public hustings for their own party purposes; they 
succeeded in placing her in an unconstitutional position, 
that might prove both painful and embarrassing. When 
the Whigs were forced to resign on the Jamaica question, 
the Bedchamber Plot succeeded in re-instating them for 
a time. Sir Robert Peel discovered, by an almost acci¬ 
dental reference to the Bed Book, that his opponents 
had succeeded in completely surrounding the Queen with 
ladies of the household attached to their own interests. 
He proposed that those ladies who filled the highest 
situations should resign. Her Majesty erroneously con¬ 
ceived that Sir Robert intended to change all the ladies 
of her household, and dispatched the famous note in 
which she states, that she “ cannot consent to adopt a 
course which she conceives to be contrary to usage, and 
which is repugnant to her feelings.” Sir Robert accord¬ 
ingly declined to proceed with the construction of his 
cabinet, and Lord Melbourne returned to power. The 
prosecution of the unhappy Lady Plora Hastings that 
afterwards ensued, followed by her death, and the heart¬ 
less letters written by Lord Melbourne to her mother, 
increased the unpopularity of the Court. The Whigs were 
also forced to confess that the position which the Queen 
had taken by their advice was, in reality, untenable. The 
Whig Administration might be best described as now 
subsisting on sufferance. Their supposed unity of senti¬ 
ment with the Crown at first conciliated for them a 
portion of popular favour, which soon ebbed again. 

Mr. [Macaulay had not been in the House more than 


MR. MACAULAY IS MADE SECRETARY AT WAR. 253 

two or three weeks, when Mr. Guste's motions on the 
ballot gave him occasion to speak, although it had been 
his intention to have continued for a longer time a 
silent spectator of the proceedings of Parliament. His 
re-appearance excited the greatest interest. Members 
crowded into the side galleries to hear his speech, which 
exhibited all his characteristic ability. In regard to the 
question itself, his persistent advocacy of the ballot may 
be regarded as one of his political errors. The common 
sense of Englishmen has decisively settled the question of 
secret voting. This was the only speech he made this 
session. But he constantly gave the Ministers the advan¬ 
tage of his vote, and his vote at that conjuncture of 
affairs was of the highest importance. Ministers in a 
pitched battle were reduced to so low a majority as two. 

After the Parliament broke up, there were certain 
changes in the Ministry. Mr. Macaulay was spoken of 
for one of the appointments not of the Cabinet, but it was 
stated in the papers that he had resolved to accept nothing 
short of a seat in the Cabinet, and it is unlikely that any¬ 
thing else was ever offered to him. He was accordingly 
appointed Secretary at War, and sworn of the Privy 
Council. At the same time a similar distinction was con¬ 
ferred upon Mr. Sheil, who had also accepted office; and 
being a Homan Catholic, the Times regarded the appoint¬ 
ment with feelings of pious horror. The Times spitefully 
recalled Mr. Macaulay^s former connection with Mr. 
Sheiks case :— 

“ So much for Mr. Sheil himself, whose promotion 
to the rank of Privy Councillor is rendered still more 
remarkable from the fact, that it occurs at the same 
time that Mr. Babble-tongue Macaulay receives the like 
distinction. Mr. Babble-tongue Macaulay was to have 


254 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


been tlie chief witness in the case of f Who's the traitor ?'— 
a question which it is generally believed he might have 
answered as easily as Mr. Sheil himself. But the right 
honourable Babble-tongue stood mute; and it so hap¬ 
pened that it was not ‘ all Dickey' with the right 
honourable Bichard Sheil. These men privy councillors ! 
These men petted at Windsor Castle ! Faugh! Why 
they are hardly fit to fill up the vacancies that have 
occurred by the lamented death of her Majesty's two 
favourite monkeys." 

At the time of his elevation, Mr. Macaulay went down 
to Windsor and kissed hands. On this occasion he was 
her Majesty's guest at Windsor Castle for several days. 
The John Bull states that her Majesty was considerably 
astonished upon being informed that the individual before 
her was the celebrated Mr. Macaulay. Mr. Macaulay, 
says the Times , now obtained the familiar appellation 
of the right hon. On this occasion he had the indis¬ 
cretion to date his address from WIND SOB CASTLE : 
Mr. Macaulay's little place in Berkshire, as some one 
humorously calls it. It is very well to say that Mr. 
Macaulay being at Windsor Castle had a right to date 
from Windsor Castle, but one instinctively feels it was a 
mistake. Of course the Times did not omit to comment 
on this. 

“ But if the ground of Mr. Sheil’s appointments be still 
a mystery, there can no longer be any doubt of the quali¬ 
fication which recommended Mr. Babble-tongue Macaulay 
to the favour of the Ministers. No; his letter to the 
electors of Edinburgh has set that point at rest. His 
cast-iron impudence has caused his promotion. f Set a 
beggar on horseback' and our readers know how he will 
ride. Mr. Babble-tongue Macaulay’s epistle furnishes a 


THE WINDSOR CASTLE LETTER. 


255 


striking illustration of the truth of that proverbial saying. 
It seems that his uncouth, uncomfortable presence has 
been obtruded on her Majesty at Windsor, and the crea¬ 
ture has actually had the impudence to date his letter to 
the canaille of the Edinburgh electors from ‘ Windsor 
Castle V We would fain persuade ourselves that the 
Scotch papers have been hoaxing us, and that Mr. Babble- 
tongue Macaulay addressed his letter, not from the Castle, 
but from the Castle Tavern, Windsor—ay, and from the 
most proper part thereof for the purpose, namely, the Tap. 
But no; he has somehow or other been pitchforked into 
the Palace; and though, in all probability, he has been 
admitted as a guest there only for the sake of being made 
fun of by Lord Melbourne and the ladies, still the e dis¬ 
tinguished honour * has given his brains another turn. 
This is evident from the insufferably conceited strain of 
his epistle to the scum of the Edinburgh electors/’ The 
following is the letter referred to:— 

“ Windsor Castle, October 1, 1839. 

u Gentlemen, —It is already known to you that her 
Majesty has been graciously pleased to appoint me her 
Secretary at War, and to add me to the number of those 
confidential members of her council who are in a peculiar 
manner accountable for the conduct of public affairs. I 
need scarcely say that office has at this moment few of its 
ordinary attractions, and that, in the present circum¬ 
stances of the country, and in the present state of parties, 
there is much to discourage those who are entrusted with 
the administration. I should, in all probability, have best 
consulted my own comfort by leaving to others the 
arduous task of acting and proposing, and by confining 
myself to the far easier business of censuring and object- 


256 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOPD MACAULAY. 

ing; but such selfish caution would ill become one whom 
the generous confidence of your great and enlightened 
city has placed in a high public trust. Believing as I do 
that her Majesty's present advisers have meant and 
endeavoured well; attributing as I do that weakness with 
which they are taunted neither to infirmity of judgment 
nor to infirmity of purpose, but to adverse circumstances, to 
popular delusions, to the arts of unscrupulous enemies, and 
to the slackness of faint-hearted or unreasonable friends, 
I have thought it my duty to obey without hesitation the 
summons which called me to the post of difficulty, of 
responsibility, of honour. At that post I am confident 
it must be your wish that your representative should be 
found. The change which has taken place in my situation 
has produced no change in my opinions and feelings. I 
have not to retract or explain away a single word that you 
have heard me utter. I have accepted office because I am 
of opinion that, in office, I can most effectually promote the 
success of those principles which recommended me to your 
favour. I shall quit office with far more pleasure than I 
accepted it, as soon as I am convinced that by quitting it, 
I should serve the cause of temperate liberty and pro¬ 
gressive reform. My seat in the House of Commons is 
now vacant, but the new writ cannot issue till after the 
meeting of Parliament. During the interval, you will, I 
trust, permit me, on every occasion in which I can serve 
you, to consider myself as still your representative. On 
the day of election I shall present myself before you, 
without any apprehensions as to the event. You, I am 
confident, will not think that the situation which I now 
fill, as one of the servants of a constitutional throne, dis¬ 
qualifies me for the service of a free people. 

“ T. B. Macaulay." 


THE ROYAL MARRIAGE. 


257 


The session of 1840 now commenced, in which the 
Whig ministry had to fight hard for an existence which 
often trembled in the balance. The opening paragraphs 
of the speech from the throne gave the formal announce¬ 
ment of the approaching royal marriage. It was remarked 
on this occasion that the Queen's voice, though clear, was 
not always audible, and she scarcely spoke with her 
customary decision. Soon after the Speaker had taken 
the chair, Mr. E. J. Stanley moved for a new writ for the 
city of Edinburgh, in the room of the Right Honourable 
T. B. Macaulay, who had accepted the office of Her 
Majesty’s Secretary of War. The motion, however, was 
not allowed to pass over in due course. A member of 
comparatively new standing, a member chiefly celebrated 
for an egregious failure, but who was already beginning 
to efface its impressions by proofs of ability, a member 
to whose merits his own political friends would not then 
accord a recognition, arose to offer some remarks. That 
member was Mr. Disraeli. He said there had been vir¬ 
tually a reconstruction of the Cabinet. The Cabinet had 
been described as a new Cabinet. It was the paramount 
duty of the House of Commons to ascertain who were the 
responsible advisers of the Crown. He wanted to know 
that. Would ministers hold up their hands? With 
anxiety he hoped to be favoured with an answer. The 
anxiety was fruitless, for the favour was not bestowed. 
Ministers did not vouchsafe the slightest notice to the 
uninfluential individual who made the query. The writ 
was issued, and Mr. Macaulay was re-elected without the 
slightest opposition. 

One of the first matters that occupied Parliament was 
the making of a suitable provision for Prince Albert. 
The ministers proposed fifty thousand a year. Mr. Hume, 


258 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

amid the laughter of the House, said he did not see the 
use of setting a young man down in the streets of London 
with such a lot of money in his pockets. Colonel Sib- 
thorpe proposed, as an amendment, the sum of thirty 
thousand pounds. Sir Robert Peel and his party sup¬ 
ported the amendment, and to the huge delight and 
astonishment of the worthy Colonel, he succeeded in his 
object. Lord John Russell ungracefully asserted that 
the vote was actuated by a desire to avenge the events 
of the time of the Bedchamber Plot. In this case Prince 
Albert would indeed suffer severely for his royal consort’s 
partialities to Lord Melbourne and his friends, in an 
enormous fine of a sum approximating to half a million. 
But Sir Robert Peel distinctly denied the imputation, and 
administered a sharp rebuke to Lord John on account of 
the language which he had employed. In truth, the 
state of the country was so gloomy, and the exchequer 
in so unpromising a state, that the larger grant could 
scarcely be pressed with a good grace. That auspicious 
marriage followed in due course, from which her Majesty 
derived so much happiness, and the nation so much good. 
That the palace was never again the scene of intrigues 
like the Melbourne intrigues, is due in great measure to 
the knowledge, sense, and fairness, of the lamented Prince 
Consort. 

Sir John Yarde Buffer’s dreaded motion came on for 
debate on the 28th of January,—“That Her Majesty’s 
Government, as at present constituted, does not possess 
the confidence of this House.” In the course of the 
debate, Mr. Macaulay’s speech at Edinburgh, in which 
he had advocated the ballot, extension of the suffrage, 
and quadrennial parliaments, was severely criticised. It 
was especially urged that Lord John Russell, the previous 


MR. MACAULAY ON WANT OF CONFIDENCE. 259 

session, had voted against the introduction of the vote 
by ballot, and had then regretted that the honourable 
member for Edinburgh should not have more maturely 
considered his opinions on this subject. And now the 
two, holding such diverse opinions, were members of the 
same Cabinet. The motion was seconded by Alderman 
Thompson. Sir George Grey offered a direct negative 
in a speech of remarkable eloquence, which produced a 
great impression and added much to his reputation. 
Mr. Disraeli, in a way that did not particularly impress 
either the House or the country, argued for the necessity 
of a strong government. On the second night of the 
debate, Sir James Graham renewed the attack on Mr. 
Macaulay in a speech that told with remarkable effect, 
especially the part which related to the contradictory 
opinions of ministers. Mr. Macaulay then rose. He 
said that it would be easy for him to reply, and still 
easier to recriminate. If ever he was under the necessity 
of addressing the House on matters which concerned 
himself, he hoped it would not be on an occasion when 
the dearest interests of the empire were staked on the 
event of the debate. He then proceeded to express his 
intense conviction, that in pleading for the Government 
he was pleading for the dearest interests of the common¬ 
wealth, for the reformation of abuses, and for the pre¬ 
servation of august and venerable institutions. This was 
thought rather an odd declaration from a member of a 
Whig-Radical Cabinet which had certainly never been 
regarded as very friendly to our “ venerable institutions.” 
The House was greatly excited that evening. The country 
party are always noted for the power and healthiness of 
their lungs, and they exerted them that night with sten¬ 
torian effect. The counter and ironical cheers and the 


260 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

“ oli oil ”’s were incessant. “ I trust, Mr. Speaker,” said 
tlie orator, “ that the First Cabinet Minister who, when 
the question is whether the Government be or be not 
worthy of confidence, offers himself in debate, will find 
some portion of that generosity and good feeling which 
once distinguished English gentlemen. But be this as it 
may, my voice shall be heard.” He then proceeded to 
point out that the ballot might be an open question, just 
as the cabinets of Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox, Lord Liverpool, and 
Mr. Canning had had their open questions. He suc¬ 
ceeded in commanding the attention of the turbulent 
House, and, as usual, sat down amid a diapason of cheers. 
The conclusion of his speech was a splendid eulogium, 
pronounced with all the warmth of friendship, upon Lord 
John, and, by implication, on himself. “At his side will 
not be wanting men who, through all the turns of fortune, 
will defend to the last with unabated spirit the noble 
principles of Milton and Locke.” One would almost 
suppose that the ardent patriots were in danger of being 
dragged to the scaffold, and the principles of Milton and 
Locke—of which the Whigs by no means possessed the 
monopoly—were in danger of becoming extinct. The 
absence of Mr. Macaulay in India had prevented his 
noticing minutely and accurately the gradual declen¬ 
sion of his friends in public virtues and public opinion. 
He then hurled an impetuous attack against the Oppo¬ 
sition :—“A change has of late come over the spirit 
of a part — I hope not the most considerable part — 
of the Tory party. It was once the boast of that 
party, that through all changes of fortune they cherished 
feelings of loyalty which rendered their very errors 
respected, and gave to servitude something of the 
dignity and worthiness of freedom. A great Tory poet, 


ATTACK OF LORD POWEKSCOURT. 


261 


who in his lifetime was largely requited for his loyalty^ 
said— 

‘ Our loyalty is still the same, 

Whether it win or lose the game : 

True as the dial to the sun, 

Although it be not shone upon.’ 

We see now a very different race of Tories. We have 
lived to see a new party raise its head—a monster of a 
party, made up of the worst points of the Cavalier and 
the worst points of the Roundhead. We have lived to 
see a race of disloyal Tories. We have lived to see 
Toryism giving itself the airs of those insolent pipemen 
who puffed out smoke in the face of Charles I. We have 
lived to see Toryism, which, because it is not suffered to 
grind the people after the fashion of Strafford, turns 

round and abuses the sovereign after the fashion of-” 

The remainder of the sentence was lost in the cheers of 
the House. The Times supplied the ellipse, “ Hugh 
Peters.” 

Nevertheless, the Times said the speech was less adapted 
to the House than to one of the quarterly periodicals. 
According to them, he was “ an inflated organ of hollow 
sounds”—whatever that may happen to mean. Their 
criticism on the speech, however, is confirmed in other 
quarters. Lord Powerscourt, who opened the debate next 
night, would not call it “a speech, but an elaborate 
essay.” Lord Powerscourt said, that instead of alluding 
in the most distant manner to the real charges against 
the ministers, he had been flying off and talking about 
some nondescript animal, half a Roundhead, half a 
Cavalier, about the times of Milton and Hampden, and 
fifty other things, which had no more to do with the 
matter then in hand than if he had talked of the sudden 



262 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

death of King Rufus out hunting, and had pronounced 
a long panegyric on the merits of Alfred. Lord Stanley, 
amid the cheers and laughter of the House, said that he 
had waited till a late hour in the anxious expectation that 
some other than the “First Cabinet Minister” who 
addressed the House would at least have attempted to 
reply. The lion, member had said that it would be easy 
to reply and easier to recriminate; but though he had 
recriminated, he had not replied. He would not com¬ 
ment on “ that laborious essay—that historical review of 
the last half century, with the exception of the last five 
years, the events of which were really the subject of dis¬ 
cussion.” Sir Robert Peel never made a happier reply, 
or handled classical quotation more happily, than on this 
occasion :— 

“ The right lion, gentlemen proclaims the sacred duty of 
agitation. He says that no great measure can be carried 
without agitation. Are these mere clap-traps to deceive 
the Radicals behind him? If your doctrine he good, do 
you intend to agitate as a member of the Government ? 
You profess to believe in the efficacy and necessity of 
the Ballot, and you say no great question can be car¬ 
ried without agitation. Does your position as a Cabinet 
Minister exempt you from the duty of agitating in favour 
of the Ballot? If you agitate in its favour, the noble 
Lord must agitate against it. Here is the first result 
of your open questions. How edifying will it he to see 
the noble Lord, and the right honourable gentleman after 
a conference in Cabinet on the convulsed state of the 
country, or other arcana imperii, part company at the 
end of Downing Street, each to carry on his separate 
system of agitation ! Great, indeed, will be the vigour of 
your Administration, and cordial the concert of your 


SIR ROBERT PEEL ON MR. MACAULAY. 


263 


Cabinet. But suppose you abstain from agitation; sup¬ 
pose, in order to prevent collision in the Cabinet, you 
never discuss either Corn Laws or Ballot, or any other 
of the open questions, what answer will you make to your 
constituents at Edinburgh ? Out of office you declared 
yourself in favour of these measures, — in office you 
repeated the assurance that you were faithful to your 
principles. From the proud Keep of Windsor you pro¬ 
claimed your fidelity to them, not from the gratification 
of any vulgar personal vanity, but from the firm resolu¬ 
tion that truth should be spoken in high places, and that 
from the palace of kings the comfortable tidings of 
Radical Reform should be conveyed by a voice of autho¬ 
rity. Will it suffice to answer, when your constituents 
require the fulfilment of your promises, ‘I gave you no 
pledges,—declarations in abundance, I admit; but pledges, 
I utterly disclaim them/ They will remind you that 
they hailed your return from foreign lands to the shores 
of England,—that they found you panting for distinction, 
and lifted you, through their favour, into the councils of 
the empire. If their native tongue will not suffice for 
this classic constituency, you have taught them, by 
reminding me of former reproaches, where they may 
find, in the passionate exclamations of Dido, the fit 
expression of their sorrows : 

‘ Nusquam tuta fides !’ 

Nay, they may proceed with the quotation— 

« Nusquam tuta tides ! ejectum littore egentem 
Excepi, et regni demens in parte locavi.’ 

* Shall there be no fruit/ they will exclaim, ‘of our 
mutual love, no little Bill stamped with the image of its 


264 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


father, and reflecting in its face the features of paternal 
vigour and intelligence ? 3 

‘ Saltern si qua mihi de te suscepta fuisset, 

Ante fugam soboles, si quis mihi parvulus aula 
Luderet Aeneas, qui te tamen ore referret 
Non equidem omnino capta ac deserta viderer.’ 

You remain deaf to their entreaties. With all your pro¬ 
testations of fidelity, you have nothing to return hut the 
miserable answer of ./Eneas, after all his coquetting in 
the cavern, ‘Nonlisec in foedera veni/ ‘I gave you no 
pledges / 33 

Let those laugh who win. The motion was lost by a 
majority of twenty-one, and for a few more quarter-days 
the Ministry were safe. In April, Sir James Graham 
brought forward a motion on the subject of China, which 
was virtually a second motion of want of confidence. 
He was answered, as on the former occasion, by Mr. 
Macaulay, who argued on his civis Romanus principle. 
His “novissima verba 33 on the subject were : “ He should 
only further express his sincere hope that the efforts of 
those who were entrusted with the duty of exacting 
reparation from the Chinese by an exhibition of English 
power combined with English mercy and moderation, 
might be overruled by the care of a gracious Providence, 
which so often educed good out of apparent evil.” He 
was followed by the lamented Sir William Follett, whose 
speech, in point of parliamentary ability, would not unfa¬ 
vourably contrast with his own. Sir Robert Peel, “ in 
the absence of every confidence in Her Majesty’s Govern¬ 
ment, would pray to God to avert from the unhappy 
people over whom war impended, the dreadful calamities 
which threatened, and to turn away from us the evils 


HIS PRINCIPLES AS A WAR MINISTER. 


265 


which the neglect or incapacity of our rulers so righteously 
deserved.” 

The Ministers again triumphed; hut this time their 
majority was reduced to ten. One more such victory, 
and they would be undone. This session there was not 
another field day. The prorogation of Parliament found 
the Whigs still in possession of Downing Street, but with 
every prospect of a speedy ejectment. 

A few incidents of the session may be mentioned. As 
War Minister, Macaulay laid down a principle which 
ought to be generally followed : 

“ Was Lord Cardigan, then, to be put on the half-pay 
list ? This is not the principle on which the half-pay of 
this country has been established, nor one to which, while 
I remain Secretary-at-War, it shall be perverted. The 
half-pay is no punishment; it is given partly as a reward 
for past services, and partly as a retainer for future ser¬ 
vices. Why should it be made a reward for offences ? 
or should a retainer be given to a man who had proved 
himself entirely unfit for the services of the Crown ? ” 

The following are graceful allusions to old friends in the 
course of the Copyright debate :— 

“ My dear and honoured friend Mr. Wilberforce, in his 
celebrated religious treatise, when speaking of the un¬ 
christian tendency of the fashionable novel of the 18th 
century, most distinctly excepts Richardson from the cen¬ 
sure. Another excellent person, whom I can never 
mention without respect and kindness, Mrs. Hannah 
More, often declared in conversation, and has declared 
in one of her published poems, that she first learned 
from the writings of Richardson those principles of piety 
by which her life was guided.” 


266 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 


Here are some anecdotal remarks in the Irish Registra¬ 
tion debate:— 

“ I will suppose another case—the case of a man of 
great wealth, and of imperious, obstinate, and arbitrary 
temper. One of those men who, as has been said by my 
lamented and valued friend, in words which should be 
engraven on his tomb, thought much of the rights of pro¬ 
perty, and little of its duties. I will suppose that man 
willing to spend 6000/., or 7000/. a year in securing the 
command of a county: that, every man knew, would not 
be impossible, even in England. I will not mention any 
recent transaction; I do not wish to mix up personalities 
with this serious debate, but we all know that a certain 
man, now dead, provoked by the opposition he received in 
a certain town, vowed that he would make the grass grow 
in its streets, and he kept his vow. Another ejected 
400 voters in one countv, and entered fifteen criminal and 
225 civil actions. Such a man could easily command 
an Irish county. It would only be a picture less in his 
gallery; or an antique gem the less in his collection. 
The costs would be but as dust under his feet, compared 
with the pleasure of domination.” 

In the recess died Henry Richard Vassall, Lord Hol¬ 
land, the friend of Macaulay and of all literary men, who 
like himself had been political disciples of his uncle 
Charles James Fox. As a traveller, politician, and modern 
scholar, he was remarkable; but he is especially remark¬ 
able for the protests which he was to place on the Journals 
of the House of Lords, which are very elaborate and 
important, more especially one relating to Napoleon's 
confinement at St. Helena. We cannot refrain from 
quoting his own touching and eloquent language respect¬ 
ing Holland House and its noble owner :— 


Macaulay’s description of Holland house. 267 


“ The time is coming when perhaps a few old men, the 
last survivors of our generation, will in vain seek amidst 
new streets, and squares, and railway stations, for the site 
of that dwelling which was in their youth the favourite 
resort of w r its and beauties, of painters and poets, of 
scholars, philosophers, and statesmen. They will then 
remember, with strange tenderness, many objects once 
familiar to them—the avenue and the terrace, the busts 
and the paintings; the carving, the grotesque gilding, 
and the enigmatical mottoes. With peculiar fondness 
they will recall that venerable chamber in which all the 
antique gravity of a college library was so singularly 
blended with all that female grace and wit could devise 
to embellish a drawing-room. They will recollect, not 
unmoved, those shelves loaded with the varied learning 
of many lands and many ages : those portraits in which 
were preserved the features of the best and wisest English¬ 
men of two generations. They will recollect how many 
men who have guided the politics of Europe—who have 
moved great assemblies by reason and eloquence—who 
have put life into bronze and canvas, or who have left to 
posterity things so written as it shall not willingly let 
them die—were there mixed with all that was loveliest 
and gayest in the society of the most splendid of capitals. 
They will remember the singular character which belonged 
to that circle, in which every talent and accomplishment, 
everv art and science, had its place. They will remember 
how the last debate was discussed in one corner, and the 
last comedy of Scribe in another; while Wilkie gazed in 
modest admiration on Reynolds’ Barretti, while Mack¬ 
intosh turned over Thomas Aquinas to verify a quotation; 
while Talleyrand related his conversations with Barras at 
the Luxembourg, or his ride with Lannes over the field of 


268 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


Austerlitz. They will remember, above all, the grace— 
and the kindness far more admirable than grace—with 
which the princely hospitality of that ancient mansion 
was dispensed. They will remember the venerable and 
benignant countenance and the cordial voice of him who 
bade them welcome. They will remember that temper 
which years of pain and sickness, of lameness, of confine¬ 
ment, seemed only to make sweeter and sweeter; and 
that frank politeness which at once relieved all the 
embarrassment of the youngest and most timid writer 
or artist who found himself for the first time among 
Ambassadors and Earls.” 

Mr. Justice Talfourd has described the evenings at 
Holland House, with which he himself was well ac¬ 
quainted, in his Final Memorials of Charles Lamb . He 
compares the evenings at Lord Holland’s to those of 
Charles Lamb; and thus proceeds to describe Mr. 
Macaulay himself. 

“ But then a younger spirit appeared at Lord Holland’s 
table to redress the balance—not so poetical as Coleridge, 
but more lucid—in whose vast and joyous memory all the 
mighty past lived and glowed anew; whose declamations 
presented, not groups tinged with distant light, like those 
of Coleridge, but a series of historical figures in relief, 
presented in bright succession—the embossed surfaces of 
heroic life.” 

When Parliament re-assembled in 1841, the Ministers 
were weaker than ever. They had undergone losses in 
the recess, at a time when every vote was of consequence. 
Nevertheless, people wondered if anything in the world 
could dislodge them. They clung to their places with 
desperate tenacity, and were prepared to try every chance 
and hazard. To conciliate Mr. O’Connell and his tail, 


MINISTERIAL DEFEAT AND TACTICS. 


269 


tlie Irish Registration Bill was brought forward—virtually 
a new Reform Bill for Ireland—which would reduce the 
suffrage one half. The ministerial majority fell to five; 
and it was evident that the party that had ruled England 
with a brief intermission for eleven years, was at its last 
gasp. The Corn Law agitation was now assuming definite 
and larger proportions, and it would not be impossible to 
turn it to profitable account. Although Lord Melbourne 
had declared the repeal of the Corn Laws the greatest 
insanity which could enter the human head, and though 
Lord John had opposed this last session, he now gave 
notice that on the 31st of May he would move for a 
Committee of the whole House to consider the Acts of 
Parliament relating to the importation of grain. In the 
meanwhile, the Chancellor of the Exchequer brought 
forward a Budget which convulsed the country, and was 
universally condemned. On a division, the ministerial pro¬ 
position for the reduction of the duties on sugar was lost 
by thirty-six. The question of Free Trade was virtually 
on trial, and Lord Palmerston, in a remarkable speech, 
predicted that if Sir Robert and his friends came into 
power, their regard for the finances and commerce of the 
country would compel them to propose Free Trade mea¬ 
sures. It was generally expected that Lord John would 
announce the resignation of Ministers next evening. 
Instead of doing so, it was calmly announced that the 
suear duties would be taken next Monday, and the Com 
Laws on the 4th of June. The tactics of the Ministers 
were now clear. They would sacrifice their Budget, and 
endure any amount of defeat. They would bring forward 
the Corn Laws, and then dissolve with a cry for cheap 
bread, at the time when the country would be in the 
height of the Corn Law agitation. The astute leader of 


270 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOPJD MACAULAY. 


the Opposition anticipated them. He gave notice that on 
the last dav of Mav he would brins: forward a direct 

m • ' 

motion of want of confidence. In the course of his 
speech Sir Robert Peel said : “ On the 19th of December 
the government of Hr. Fox and Lord Xorth was dis¬ 
solved .” 

Here Mr. Macaulay interrupted — “ Dismissed, you 
mean.” 

Sir R. Peel—“I am much obliged to the risrht 

w O 

honourable gentleman, but I really thought when a 
Government had been dismissed it might be said to be 
dissolved.” 

The same evening Air. Macaulay delivered a speech 
which he has not included in his own edition. It mast 
be pronounced unworthy of him. It must indeed have 
been intended for the hustings rather than the House, 
and talked in a strain repellent to well-informed people 
about undue influence, and ejectments, and corruption, 
and aristocratic influence and powers. Though he spoke 
late, the House listened, and almost emptied itself directiv 
he had finished. The great speeches of Lord John 
Russell and Sir Robert Peel closed the debate of four 
days, in which last Sir Robert quoted the line— 

“For sufferance is the lodge of all your tribe/’ 

The Government was defeated by a majority of one _ 

a like majority had ushered in the French revolution of 
1789 and the English revolution of 1831. The Ministers 
at once threw themselves upon the countrv. 

It was a time of extraordinary excitement. It was the 
men more than the measures who were on their trial. 
Their free-trade skiff failed the Ministers, ther had 

* m 

been in office for eleven years and had done nothing, and 



1 


GENERAL ELECTION. ?,71 

they would do nothing now save for a selfish expediency. 
Reform was an effete cry. The free use of the Queen’s 
name would avail them no longer. The dissolution was an 
act of political suicide. Everywhere the elections went 
against them. Lord John only straggled back to the House 
by seven votes, O’Connell was thrown out in Dublin, Sir 
De Lacy Evans in Westminster, and Lord Morpeth in the 
West Riding. It was known that the Ministers were in 
a very considerable minority. 

Mr. Macaulay presented himself at Edinburgh for re- 
election. In his case there was no opposition offered, 
and none ought to have been offered. He had not been 
a member of the Cabinet during those disastrous years 
in which the Melbourne Ministry had so acted as to 
forfeit the confidence of people and Parliament; and what¬ 
ever selfish motives might be attributed to some of them, 
he himself was at least free. He had neither sought 
office nor wished to retain it on selfish grounds, but had 
always exhibited a disinterestedness and public spirit not 
always exhibited by public men. The following are some 
of the remarks which he made on the occasion : — 

“ It was a singular inconsistency that those who 
accused the Government of having caused a deficiency 
in the revenue by a wasteful profusion of public money, 
should at the same time attack the Ministry for not 
adding to the public expenditure by increasing the 
strength of our naval and military establishments. He 
would not enter into a defence of the particular measures 
brought forward by Government, but he would say that 
he had stood by Lord Palmerston, and had supported him 
in a policy which was necessary to the welfare and pro¬ 
sperity of the country. He thought the nation never 
stood higher in the estimation of the civilised world than 


272 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

it did at this moment, and to the noble Lord who pre¬ 
sided over our foreign affairs was all the glory and honour 
due. The Government being involved in difficulties con¬ 
nected with finance, the question was, what was the best 
remedy to adopt. The Government might have borrowed 
money, and have put off the evil from one day to another. 
There were only two courses left for them to pursue; 
the one was to increase the amount of taxation, the 
second was by attacking some great monopoly that 
fettered the interests of the country. In the adoption 
of this policy, if Government had proceeded to grapple 
with each monopoly individually, great difficulties would 
have arisen; they therefore resolved at once to carry out 
the great principle of free-trade, and to introduce a com¬ 
plete reform in our commercial code. Government had 
been defeated first on the sugar question, on the ground 
that the proposed resolution would increase slavery and 
the slave-trade. If any one felt strongly on that ques¬ 
tion he was the man. He would not refer to the sacri¬ 
fices he had made on former occasions. He would show 
that the principle of Lord Sandom’s amendment was 
utterly futile. He would not accuse the noble Lord, 
for whom personally he entertained great respect, of 
hypocrisy, but this he would say—that many hypocrites 
voted for the amendment (cheers and hisses) who were 
found in that majority. Why individuals who had always 
strenuously supported slavery, and had opposed slave- 
emancipation—persons who lived by slavery, on whose 
estates women had been cruelly whipped and enormities 
practised (cheers), was it not ridiculous for persons who 
were supported by slave-grown cotton and tobacco to 
come down to the House and oppose the measure of 
Government on the ground of its encouraging the pro- 


DEFEAT OF MINISTERS. 


273 


ductions of slave-labour ? He then proceeded to say that 
it had been suggested to him, since he came down, that 
he should say a few words on a subject which in this part 
of the empire produced great excitement.” He pro¬ 
ceeded to speak on the subject of the disruption, but as 
this belongs to a region of discussion about which, un¬ 
happily, very little interest is generally taken, we do not 
follow him. 

The Parliament assembled on the 19th of August. 
Lord John and Sir Robert met at the bar and shook 
hands “ very cordially,” probably after gladiatorial 
fashion. With great cordiality also the Speaker of the 
last Parliament was re-elected. The speech from the 
throne partook of a controversial character very unusual 
in royal speeches, but Ministers took to themselves the 
responsibility of this. The address being moved in each 
House, an amendment was proposed of no confidence, 
and in each House carried by an overwhelming majority. 
The reply from the Queen came in due course. “ Ever 
anxious to listen to the advice of my Parliament, I will 
take immediate measures for the formation of a new 
Administration.” The Whigs were out at last, and how¬ 
ever much the Whig element may have predominated in 
later Administrations, a Ministry purely Whig has never 
since that time existed. It was now out of the question 
—and the Court knew it well—that the ladies of the 
household should interpose any further difficulties. They 
were ready to resign, and the Queen w as prepared 10 accept 
their resignation. It is stated that at the final dinner, 
where the Queen and the ladies were present, scarcely a 
word was spoken, and that tears and regrets afterwards 
broke forth without restraint. The separation was far 
more complete than if Lord Melbourne’s unconstitutional 


274 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

procedure had not previously taken place. It was a busy 
day at Claremont, Friday, September the third. There 
was painful but necessary work to be done, but before 
long the Queen would surely appreciate and rely upon Sir 
Robert, and the fresh faces among the household would 
become as familiar and dear as those of whom the stern 
Premier was depriving her. First of all, in plain clothes, 
the old Ministers drove up and delivered the seals of office, 
and then the new Ministers, glittering in Court attire, 
passed through the gates, and it was observed that the 
sun for the first time broke forth through the clouds. 
The ex-Ministers are gone, the Duke and Sir Robert have 
kissed hands, the new Privy Councillors are sworn in; 
the Melbourne Administration has passed aw r ay, and Mr. 
Macaulay is no longer a Cabinet Minister. 


CHAPTER IX. 


HER MAJESTY^ OPPOSITION. 

This chapter must be a brief one. To write the history 
of the Whig Opposition from 1841 to 1846 would be to 
deal with an important section of English history. We 
are coming to events of which the new generation will 
themselves have some dim recollections. The materials 
are no longer, as in other chapters, difficult or impossible 
of access. Our account of the Whig Opposition during 
the time when Sir Robert Peel was the oracle and dictator 
of the House of Commons—and even in the opinion of far¬ 
sighted people it seemed more than probable that his rule 
would be commensurate with his existence—will only 
relate to certain passages in which Mr. Macaulay himself 
was directly concerned. Mr. Macaulay has assumed for 
the Opposition the credit of being the very model of a 
constitutional Opposition. Without minutely criticising 
that observation, we shall not for a moment dispute it, so 
far as his own conduct is concerned. 

The new leisure which was now imposed upon Mr. 
Macaulay was turned to profitable account. Early in 1842 
appeared his Lays of Ancient Rome. They were written, it 
is believed, in a very appropriate place, the War Office. 
At the time there was a deep and monotonous calm in 
our poetical literature which Macaulay broke as with 
the sound of a clarion. More spirited poetry had not 


276 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

been produced since the time of Scott. Every schoolboy, 
and this is very high commendation, knows the ballads by 
heart. The correctness of the classical theory, in reference 
to which these were written, is a separate question, about 
which different opinions will be entertained. An article 
by Mr. Thompson, in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana , 
discusses the subject. They are certainly lays which a 
bard of Rome might have sung, had Rome possessed a 
Macaulay. 

The displaced Ministers had scarcely reason to envy 
their successors. Though strong in character, influence, 
and rank, the difficulties in the way of Sir Robert Peel 
were overwhelming. Both at home and abroad there was 
every reason for disquietude. France was alienated by 
the events of Acre, and Russia by the events of Herat; 
the West Indies were simply ruined, in Canada the 
embers of rebellion were still smouldering; the Caffres 
were at their murderous work at the Cape, and in India 
we were trembling on the borders of the great Affghani- 
stan rebellion. In the meanwhile in England the prices 
of wheat were nearly doubled, and in some quarters the 
price of labour was nearly halved. There was great 
distress in the manufacturing districts, and though this 
distress was often nobly borne, yet serious riots ensued 
in England, and riots still more serious in Scotland. 
Under these circumstances, very soon after the meeting 
of Parliament, came on the debate on the Corn Laws, 
concerning which Mr. Macaulay spoke at some length. 
The orators of the League had skilfully availed them¬ 
selves of the general suffering for the purposes of political 
agitation. It was the proposition of Sir Robert Peel that 
there should be a sliding scale of duties on foreign corn, 
ranging from Is. to 20s. per quarter, the effect of which 


REPEAL OF THE CORN LAWS. 277 

would have been to keep the price of wheat at from 70s. 
to 74s. It was the proposition of Mr. Villiers that there 
should be an immediate and total repeal of the Corn 
Laws. Mr. Macaulay disapproved of the principle of Sir 
Robert’s measure. He approved of the principle of Mr. 
Villiers’motion. But he objected to the word “ now.” 
Any repeal ought to be within a reasonable distance of 
time, to allow the farmer time to transfer his capital from 
one branch of industry to another. To insist on imme¬ 
diate repeal was mere bigotry and folly. “ I clearly 
understand the honourable member to move his resolu¬ 
tion, in a fit of despair as it were; and that, knowing he 
can get nothing, he is resolved to ask a good deal more 
than he wants.” He believed the people of Edinburgh 
would not be quite satisfied with his vote. And his con¬ 
stituents were eminently impartial judges in a case of 
this kind. They inhabited a city the seat of a university, 
of government, of administration of the law, of attractive 
and literary societies, the resort of the country gentry at 
stated seasons of the year. They had no foreign trade, 
and no manufactures. They had no interest in the matter 
beyond the common interests of the empire. The opinion 
of the people of Edinburgh was very strongly in favour 
of free-trade. In the course of his speech Mr. Macaulay 
alluded to a speech of Lord Palmerston’s on the subject. 
It is a very remarkable speech, and the peroration was 
most brilliant. It was to this that Mr. Macaulay alluded, 
and we give the extract from Lord Palmerston: 

“ Why is the earth on which we live divided into zones 
and climates ? Why, I ask, do different countries yield 
different productions to people experiencing similar wants ? 
Why are they intersected with mighty rivers, the natural 
highway of nations ? Why are the lands most distant 


27S THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 

from each other, brought almost into contact by that very 
ocean which seems to divide them ? Why, sir, it is that 
man may be dependent upon man. It is that the ex¬ 
change of commodities may be accompanied by the 
extension and diffusion of knowledge, by the interchange 
of mutual benefits engendering mutual kind feelings, 
multiplying and confirming friendly relations. It is that 
commerce may go freely forth, leading civilisation with 
the one hand and peace with the other, to render man¬ 
kind happier, wiser, and better/' (Lord Palmerston's 
speech on the Corn Law question, Feb. 16, 1842.) 

The financial difficulties were enormous. The Whigs, 
who had entered office with a surplus of three millions, 
had quitted office with a deficiency of two millions and a 
half. Affghanistan would cause an additional expense 
not far from five millions. In a crowded House, and 
amid breathless silence, Sir Robert Peel brought forward 
his bold and manly propositions, and few persons had 
given him credit for the degree of courage which they 
required. This was the permanent burden of our fiscal 
system, the Income-tax. Although the motion at first 
created great alarm in many quarters, it was thought no 
serious opposition would be offered. The Whigs thought, 
however, upon reflection, that it was the duty of a “ con¬ 
stitutional Opposition” to address themselves to the 
elements of this uneasiness and alarm. On the 4th of 
April, Lord John Russell brought forward an amendment 
condemnatory of the tax, and a debate of four nights 
ensued. 

On the part of the Opposition, Mr. Macaulay used the 
obvious argument of the palpable injustice of the tax. 
An income-tax should only be employed in extreme 
necessity, and had that extreme necessity really come ? 


PETITIONS FOR THE CHARTER. 


279 


He spoke of the inquisitorial nature of the tax—that the 
life of many men was a war to avoid the confession of 
poverty — a confession which was now to be extorted 
from them. The mention of Affghanistan was mere 
rhetoric and sophistry. Those events had happened 
since the introduction of the measure, and the Minister’s 
use of them was an afterthought. This was a tax, more¬ 
over, which would not inspire foreign nations with a just 
idea of the spirit and resources of England. There were 
other obvious means by which the finances might be im¬ 
proved ; these had not only been neglected, but valuable 
duties had been thrown away to the impairing of the 
revenue and to the injury of the country. 

The honesty and manliness of his political career is 
evidenced by his conduct in reference to the Chartists. Mr. 
Duncombe had moved that the petitioners for the Charter 
be heard at the bar of the House. “ With regard to the 
motion that has been made,” said Mr. Macaulay, “ I can¬ 
not conscientiously vote for it. The honourable member 
for Finsbury has shaped the motion with considerable 
skill, so as to give me a very fair plea to vote for it, if I 
wished to evade the discharge of my duty, so that I might 
say to my Conservative constituents, f I never supported 
Universal Suffrage, or those extreme points for which 
these petitioners call;’ or to a large assembly of Chartists, 
‘ When your case was before the House of Commons, on 
that occasion, I voted with you.’ But I think that in a 
case so important I should not discharge my duty if 
I had recourse to any such evasion, and I feel myself 
compelled to meet the motion with a direct negative. . . . 
For my own part, my mind is made up in opposition to 
their prayer, and being so, I conceive that the House 
might complain of me, and the petitioners also might 


280 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOPtD MACAULAY. 

complain of me, if I were to give an untrue impression 
of my views by voting in favour of this motion. . . . An 
accusation founded upon such grounds I shall, if I can, 
prevent their bringing against me.” He denounced the 
exaggerated notion which had misled the people. “ There 
has been a constant and systematic attempt for years to 
represent the Government as about to do, and as bound 
to attempt, that which no Government ever attempted. 
It has been treated as if the Government possessed some 
mine of wealth—some extraordinary means of supplying 
the wants of the people; as if they could give them bread 
from the clouds, water from the rocks, to increase the 
bread and the fishes five-thousandfold.” 

In the same session the Copyright Bill was passed. Sir 
Archibald Alison, in his later work on the History of 
Europe—a work of partial value and imperfect execution 
—states that Lord Mahon’s (Earl Stanhope’s) Bill was 
carried despite “ the efforts of Mr. Macaulay, who, strange 
to say, strained every nerve to defeat a measure calculated 
to give independence to a class of which he himself was 
so bright an ornament.” The present law was virtually 
settled by Mr. Macaulay, and not by Lord Stanhope. 
The proposition of the noble lord was copyright for life, 
with the addition of twenty-five years; Mr. Macaulay’s 
proposal was copyright for life or for forty-two years, 
whichever should be longest. Sir Archibald seems not 
to have fully apprehended the respective merits of the 
two proposals. Mr. Macaulay argued that his plan was 
more just and reasonable, a greater boon to men of 
letters, and much less inconvenient to the public. The 
readers of his speech will most probably be inclined to 
agree with him, as did the House of Commons. It is 
remarkable that on one of these copyright debates his 


LORD ELLENBOROUGH’s PROCLAMATION. 281 

speech was able entirely to divert the decision of the 
House. 

His first speech next session was a powerful philippic 
against the Earl of Ellenborough. This was, on Mr. 
Vernon Smith’s motion, condemnatory of Lord Ellen- 
borougVs proclamation respecting the restoration of the 
gates of a temple at Somnauth. He first of all charged 
Lord Ellenborough with putting a false date to the pro¬ 
clamation for the sake of a paltry and contemptible 
triumph, an act that indicated an intemperate mind, unfit 
for a high trust. He reprobated the idea that he was sharing 
in any religious outcry against Lord Ellenborough. “ I 
solemnly declare that I would at any time be the victim 
rather than the tool of fanaticism, and that if the conduct 
of Lord Ellenborough was called in question for using 
theist toleration towards all religions, or for any reprobation 
of the misguided zeal of Christian missionaries, I would, 
notwithstanding our political differences, be the first to 
stand forward in his defence.” He then proceeded to 
speak of the idolatry of India, and how difficult a question 
it was in morals and government. “ Gradually a system 
has been introduced which every one who is aware of the 
state of India will admit to be of considerable importance. 
I am not aware, at the present moment, that the rules laid 
down by the Home Government for the conduct of our 
Indian authorities admit of any considerable improvement. 
I think it was my Lord Wellesley who led the way and 
abolished the immolation of female children; and great 
as is the title of that eminent statesman to the gratitude 
of his country, this was one of the proudest of the claims 
which his friends and those who regret his loss will rejoice 
to acknowledge. In the year IS 13 the restriction on 
the admission of missionaries was abolished. At a later 


282 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY - . 

period, sir, Lord. W. Bentinck abolished the Suttee. An 
order was also sent out by the Government at home on 
the subject of the pilgrim-tax. Lord Glenelg—I was in 
office at the time, and I know the fact—Lord Glenelg, 
with his own hand, wrote that most important and valuable 
despatch of February, 1833, to which such frequent refer¬ 
ence has been made. In that despatch—and I recollect 
it so well that I can almost state with precision the para¬ 
graph and quote its substance, almost its exact words—in 
the 62nd paragraph of that despatch, will be found a com¬ 
plete system, I might call it, of legislation, but a code of 
conduct for the Indian authorities.” 

These things being so, the Government having esta¬ 
blished a wise neutrality, Lord Ellenborougli had violated 
it. He had sent troops to carry these gates from a Ma¬ 
hometan mosque to a Hindoo temple, and place them on 
the restored Temple of Somnauth. Not only had Lord 
Ellenborougli deviated from orders, but he had deviated in 
the worst possible way. He had offered insult to truth 
and had paid homage to falsehood. The false religion 
which he had upheld was Brahmanism, the most polluted 
form of polytheism. While thus siding with the Hindoos, 
he had inflicted the greatest outrage on the Mahometans, 
and when the proclamation should be abrogated, the hopes 
of the Hindoos would be disappointed. He commented 
severely on the turgid language of these proclamations. 
It might be urged that these resembled the documents 
issued by the native princes. “ But is that a parallel case? 
May it not as well be said that it was fit that the noble 
lord should let his beard grow down to his waist; that he 
should attire himself in the Eastern costume; that he 
should hang about his person jewels and glittering orna¬ 
ments ; and that he should ride through the streets of 


RECALL OF LORD ELLENBOROUGH. 283 

Calcutta upon a horse gaily caparisoned and ornamented 
with jingling hells and glass beads, and all the showy para¬ 
phernalia of the native princes.” He would tell the 
House where Lord Ellenborough borrowed this foolish 
proclamation. It was an imitation of those trashy rants 
which proceeded jrom the proconsuls of France in the 
time of the Directory, during the French Devolution, and 
more especially of that address which was put forth at the 
time of the passage of the Po. Was it for a Conservative 
Governor-General to find his models in the papers of 
Devolutionary France? Did he suppose that such men 
as Warren Hastings and Sir Charles Metcalfe would not 
employ this style if there was any advantage in it ? He 
would pawn his life that Lord Ellenborough had never 
taken the advice of that eminent individual with whom he 
had the pleasure of being acquainted, and whose name was 
attached to the notification. The right honourable baronet 
was a powerful Minister—a Minister more powerful than 
we had had for many years ; and yet his power, great and 
extensive as it was, compared with that of the Governor- 
General, was as nothing. The Governor-General might 
override his counsel, and all that they could do was to call 
upon him to write down the reasons of his adverse decision. 
He would address himself to the Board of Directors, and 
give them most faithful and sincere counsel. Considering 
the heavy responsibility, let them not hesitate to recall 
Lord Ellenborough. 

The opinion of Lord Macaulay on Indian subjects are 
always interesting and important. They were matters upon 
which, from personal knowledge and experience, he could 
speak with authority. Ultimately the Couit of Diiectors 
adopted his advice, and, according to the powers vested in 
them by their Charter, recalled Lord Ellenborough. 


284 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOPiD MACAULAY. 

Another subject of great national and international 
importance which came this session (1843) under parlia¬ 
mentary discussion, and which elicited very severe criticism 
from Mr. Macaulay, was the Treaty of Washington. To 
this Lord Palmerston, with his usual happiness, gave the 
sobriquet of the “ Ashburton Capitulation.” The treaty 
concerned some of those serious matters of dispute 
between our own country and the United States which 
on various occasions have nearly brought the two kindred 
nations to the blaze of civil war. The Whigs had 
bequeathed to the Tories the legacy of a dispute con¬ 
cerning the right of search. Without going into the 
circumstances of the original dispute, it is enough to say 
that the Americans, inflamed with passion, denounced the 
English as pirates and murderers, and threatened blood 
and fire. Happily both England and America possessed, 
in relation to foreign affairs, a wise and moderate Ministry, 
and the question was adjusted on the basis that when 
reasonable grounds existed for suspecting that the United 
States flag was used only as a pretence, the British 
cruiser might board the vessel, and demand production of 
the ship’s papers, under the liability of making reparation 
for damage and delay in the event of the vessel proving 
to be really American. About this time broke out the 
dispute concerning the Maine boundary. The Treaty of 
Independence did not accurately define the unsettled 
geography of the uninhabited country between the Cana¬ 
dian and the American provinces. All evidence and all 
argument seemed strongly to preponderate on the British 
side. The King of Holland, to whom the matter was 
referred for arbitration, on two of the three points sub¬ 
mitted gave his aw^ard in favour of the British; and did 
not settle the third point, on the ground that there were 


THE ASHBURTON CAPITULATION. 


285 


not sufficient materials on which to base a decision. The 
Americans would not submit to be bound by the award, 
and there appeared to be an imminent danger of war. 
Sir Robert Peel clearly discerned, that, though painful 
sacrifices might be necessary, in the present condition of 
the country a compromise was absolutely necessary. He 
dispatched Lord Ashburton on a mission of peace—a 
merchant recently ennobled, and from his mercantile 
pursuits well adapted to deal with the American people. 
“ I readily and cordially admit the extent of his informa¬ 
tion,” said Mr. Macaulay, in his place in Parliament, 
“ and I sincerely admire those eminent abilities which I 
have seen displayed in this House with great profit and 
advantage to the public, and from which I have myself 
derived pleasure and instruction.” He succeeded in con¬ 
cluding a treaty which should both settle the boundary 
question and also the right of search on the high seas in 
the time of peace. Unhappily, the territorial arrange¬ 
ments were settled in a manner contrary to justice, 
contrary to our interest, involving the cession to America 
of the most extensive and the most valuable lands in 
dispute. This treaty, then, when Lord Palmerston moved 
for copies of communications that had passed between the 
Government and Lord Ashburton, was severely criticised 
by Mr. Macaulay. His grave and statesmanlike objections 
have great weight, deserve careful attention, and in a large 
measure have been verified by the result. He laid down, 
in careful and luminous language, the requirements that 
ought to be sought for according to the proper idea of a 
treaty. Three conditions were necessary. The first con¬ 
dition was, that the honour and dignity of this country 
should not be compromised. The second condition was, 
that the treaty should remove causes of difference, and at 


286 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

least not leave the nation in a worse condition. The 
third condition was, that the treaty should produce kind 
and cordial feeling, and should go far to hinder the 
recurrence of similar disputes. On this occasion, as on 
others, Mr. Macaulay proved himself a great publicist. 
The great writers on international law, as early as Grotius 
or as late as Wheaton, have not expressed the notion of a 
treaty in language equally accurate and popular. Mr. 
Macaulay argued in detail on each of these divisions, 
and expressed his doubts, and more than doubts, that 
the Ashburton negotiations did not fulfil these con¬ 
ditions. 

Mr. Macaulay certainly did his best to carry out his 
idea of what a constitutional Opposition ought to be. As 
a public man, and as a prominent public man, he vigor¬ 
ously examined all the measures of the Peel Ministry. 
Not even when he was in office does he appear to have 
attended the House more regularly, or to have spoken 
more frequently, or with greater care. Indeed, if a 
difference is to be detected, I should say that he spoke less 
frequently in office than when out of office. He does 
not appear to have made any speeches that were merely 
factious, or to have given any votes that were merely 
factious, but on all occasions to have pursued a consistent, 
disinterested, and patriotic course. 

I would cite a few passages from ohter speeches that 
appear very illustrative of his character. For instance, 
his vivid and eminently cultured mind could watch in 
passing occurrences the phenomena of historical law, 
could connect all scattered streams of events with the 
great river of time, and could detect the relations of the 
events of the day with the great scope and plan of his¬ 
tory, Better instances of this may be found than the one 


POLITICS AND COLOURS. 


287 


I cite, but it may serve. We have passed on to another 
session, that of 1844. It is a debate on the state of 
Ireland, always Sir Robert Peel's great difficulty. 

“ It happened throughout the whole of that century, 
that our slavery and their freedom meant one and the 
same thing; and that the very events, dates, and names 
which in the mind of an Englishman were associated 
with the glory and prosperity of his country, were asso¬ 
ciated in that of an Irishman with all that had worked 
the ruin and degradation of his. Take the name of 
William III., the memory of the Battle of the Boyne. 
I never recollect being so forcibly struck with anything 
as with a circumstance which occurred on a day I have 
every reason to remember with gratitude and pride—the 
day when I had the honour of being declared member for 
Leeds. While I was chaired, I observed that all the 
windows were filled with orange ribbons, and the streets 
crowded with persons wearing orange-flowers; all these 
were in favour of the Catholic emancipation, and ani¬ 
mated with the strongest feeling to contend for equality 
of rights being granted to their Catholic fellow-subjects. 
I could not help observing that the orange ribbon seemed 
rather incongruous. ‘Not at all/ was the answer; 
‘ under an orange flag the Whigs of Yorkshire have 
always banded together. An orange flag was carried 
before Sir George Saville, one ot the first persons who 
stood here on the basis of equal rights for all. The very 
chair m which I sat, it was added, was the chair in which 
Lord Milton had been carried when he gained the victory 
in the great cause of religious liberty against Loid 
Harewood. Now, what effect would this have produced 
in Limerick ? It would have been at once considered as 
a mark of triumph over and insult to the Catholic party, 


288 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


marking a disagreement at every point in the history and 
even of the moral being of these two nations.” 

The following conclusion to his speech on the Unitarian 
Chapels Bill,* is highly honourable to him, and very 
characteristic : 

We know that that sect is small—that it is unpopular 
-—that it can produce little effect upon elections; perhaps 
I may go so far as to say that it would probably be the 
best way, to win public favour, altogether to repudiate 
them and their doctrines; and therefore, if such be the 
case—if there be any person of an arbitrary nature and 
intolerant turn of mind who wishes to enjoy the pleasure 
of persecution with perfect personal impunity—then I say 
that he can have no more excellent opportunities for the 
indulgence of his propensities than the present. For 
myself, sir, I have taken up the doctrines of civil and 
religious liberty, not because they are popular, but 
because they are just; and the time may come soon 
when some of those who are now crying out against this 
Bill may be compelled to appeal to the principles on 
which it rests; and if that shall be the case, then, sir, I 
will attempt to prevent others from oppressing them, as 
I now seek to keep them from lording it over others. At 
present, I contend against their insolence in the same 
spirit as I may hereafter have to battle for their rights.” 

Here is another specimen of his mingled vein of 
rhetoric, anecdote, and indignant eloquence.f 

“I have detained you too long, sir. Yet there is one 
point to which I must refer—I mean the refining. Was 
such a distinction ever heard of ? Is there anything like 
it in all PascaPs Dialogues with the old Jesuit \ Not 

* June 6th, 1844. 

t Speech on the Sugar Duties, Feb. 26th, 1845. 


CASE OF CONSCIENCE. 


289 


for he world are we to eat one ounce of Brazilian sugar. 
But we import the accursed thing; we bond it; we 
employ our skill and machinery to render it more alluring 
to the eye and to the palate; we export it to Leghorn 
and Hamburgh; we send it to all the coffee-houses of 
Italy and Germany: we pocket a profit on all this; and 
then we put on a Pharisaical air, and thank God that we 
are not like those sinful Italians and Germans who have 
no scruple about swallowing slave-grown sugar. Surely 
this sophistry is worthy only of the worst class of false 
witnesses. I perjure myself ? Not so for the world ! I only 
kissed my thumb; I did not put my lips to the calf-skin. 

“ I remember something very like the right honourable 
BaronePs morality in a Spanish novel which I read long 
ago. I beg pardon of the House for detaining them with 
such a trifle, but the story is much to the purpose. A 
wandering lad, a sort of Gil Bias, is taken into the service 
of a rich old silversmith, a most pious man, who is always 
telling his beads, who hears mass daily, and observes 
the feasts and fasts of the Church with the utmost 
scrupulosity. The silversmith is always preaching honesty 
and piety. Never, he constantly repeats to his young 
assistant, never touch what is not your own—never take 
liberties with sacred things. Sacrilege, as uniting theft 
with profaneness, is the sin of which he has the deepest 
horror. One day, while he is lecturing after his usual 
fashion, an ill-looking fellow comes into the shop, with a 
sack under his arm. ‘Will you buy these V says the 
visitor, and produces from the sack some church plate, 
and a rich silver crucifix. ‘ Buy them \’ cries the pious 
man ; ‘ no, nor touch them, not for the world ! I know 
where you got them. Wretch that you are ! have you no 
care for your soul V ‘ Well, then/ says the thief, ‘ if you 


290 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

will not buy them, will you melt them down for me?' 

‘ Melt them down/ answers the silversmith, ‘ that is quite 
another matter.* He takes the chalice and the crucifix 
with a pair of tongs; the silver thus in bond is dropped 
into the crucible, melted, and delivered to the thief, who 
lays down five pistoles, and decamps with his booty. The 
young servant stares at this strange scene. But the 
master very gravely resumes his lecture. ‘My son/ he 
says, c take warning by that sacrilegious knave, and take 
example by me. Think what a load of guilt lies on his 
conscience. You will see him hanged before long. But 
as to me, you saw that I would not touch the stolen 
property, I keep these tongs for such occasions. And 
thus I thrive in the fear of God, and manage to turn an 
honest penny.* 

“ You talk of morality. What can be more immoral 
than to bring ridicule on the very name of morality by 
drawing distinctions where there are no differences ? Is 
it not enough that a set of quibbles has been devised, 
under cover of which a divine may hold the worst doc¬ 
trines of the Church of Rome, and may hold with them 
the best benefice of the Church of England ? Let us keep 
the debates of this House free from the sophistry of 
Tract No. 90.** 

In every session of Parliament there is some question 
which becomes emphatically the question of the session. 
The question of 1845 was the Maynootli question. Sir 
Robert Peel proposed very considerably to augment the 
sum originally voted to the College of Maynooth by the 
Irish Parliament. He hoped, by transferring the grant 
to the Consolidated Fund, the irritation of an annual 
grant might be avoided. The chronic agitation on the 
subject has frustrated this hope ; neither have the other 


SIR ROBERT PEEL ? S TACTICS. 291 

hopes of Sir Robert Peel found their fulfilment. He 
trusted that the Roman Catholic priests, being educated 
at home instead of abroad, might be delivered from the 
bitter feeling that so generally existed towards England 
and her Protestant institutions. This expectation has 
been disappointed, inasmuch as the education of St. Omer 
is more tolerant and enlightened than that of Maynooth. 

In the course of his speech, Mr. Macaulay made the 
following acute remarks concerning Sir Robert Peel:— 

“ I have no feeling of personal hostility, and I trust that 
the political hostility I shall avow, by no means precludes 
me from admitting, that the right honourable baronet at 
the head of the Government is a man of considerable 
capabilities as a legislator; he possesses great talents for 
debate, for the management of this House, and for the 
transaction of official business. He has great knowledge, 
and, I doubt not, is actuated by a sincere desire to promote 
the interests of the country ; but it is impossible for me 
with truth to deny that there is too much ground for the 
reproaches of those who, having, in spite of bitter ex¬ 
perience, a second time trusted and raised him to power, 
have found themselves a second time deluded. It is 
impossible for me not to say that it has been too much the 
habit of the right honourable baronet to make use, when 
in opposition (as he has done in reference to the present 
question), of passions which he regards with profound 
contempt. As soon as he reaches power, a change—a 
salutary change for his country—takes place : the instru¬ 
ments are flung aside; the ladder by which he climbed is 
kicked down. This is not a solitary instance, and I am 
forced to say, that this sort of conduct is pursued by the 
right honourable baronet on something like a system.” 

The Times, ever veering with the veering wind, reflected 


292 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOPiD MACAULAY. 

the opposition and disunion that existed among the 

followers of Sir Robert Peel. By this time, the “ leading 

organ ” had completely altered its language respecting 

Mr. Macaulay. He was now always weighty and splendid. 

He was the great essayist and historian. They entreated 

Sir Robert to ponder the character thus sketched for him. 

He might see himself inevitably reflected in the pages of 

history. There was his character dashed off by a master- 
•/ 

hand as vividly as if it had been found in one of the 
renowned critical and historical essays. 

Mr. Macaulay determined to support the bill in every 
stage. He must have known that, representing a Scottish 
constituency, there was every chance that his conduct 
would cause the forfeiture of his seat. His constituents 
remonstrated with him, and his reply was both ready and 
a little rough. He explained to them that he meant to 
vote for the bill, and that in opposing it they were acting 
under a delusion. He was not, however, deterred from 
launching a fierce philippic against Sir Robert Peel. 

“Is it strange that such proceedings as these should 
excite indignation? Can we wonder at the clamour which 
has been raised in the country, or be surprised at the 
petitions which have been showered, thick as a snow-storm, 
on the table of the House ? Is it possible that the people 
out of doors should not feel indignation at seeing that the 
very parties who, when we were in office, voted against the 
Maynooth grant, are now being whipped into the House in 
order to vote for an increased Maynooth grant? The 
natural consequences follow. Can you wonder that all those 
fierce spirits whom you have brought to harass us, now 
turn round and begin to worry you ? The Orangeman 
raises his howl, and Exeter Hall sets up its bray, and 
Mr. M‘Neil is horror-stricken to think that a still larger 


PHILIPPIC AGAINST SIR ROBERT PEEL. 


293 


grant is expected for the priests of Baal ‘ at the table of 
Jezabel/ and your Protestant operatives of Dublin call 
for the impeachment of the Minister in exceedingly bad 
English. But what did you expect ? Did you think, when 
you called up for your own purposes the devil of religious 
animosities, that you could lay him as easily as you raised 
him ? Did you think when, session after session, you went 
on attacking those whom you knew to be in the right, and 
flattering the prejudices of those whom you knew to be in 
the wrong, that the day of reckoning would never come ? 
That day has come, and now on that day you are doing 
penance for the disingenuousness of years. If it be not 
so, clear your fame as public men manfully before this 
House and this country. Show us some clear principle, 
with respect to Irish affairs, which has guided you both in 
office and opposition. Show us how, if you are honest in 
1845, you could have been honest in 1841. Explain to 
us why, after having, when out of place, goaded Ireland 
into madness, in order to ingratiate yourselves with Eng¬ 
land, you are now throwing England into a flame in order 
to ingratiate yourselves with Ireland. Let us hear some 
argument that, as Ministers, you are entitled to support— 
which shall not equally show that you were the most 
factious and unprincipled opposition this country ever saw. 
Sir, these are my opinions respecting the conduct of the 
Ministry; but am I, therefore, to take the counsel of the 
honourable member for Shrewsbury (Mr. Disraeli), and 
vote against this bill ? Not so. I believe the fate of the 
bill and the fate of the Ministry to be in our hands; but 
I believe the spectacle of inconsistency which is exhibited 
on that bench will do mischief enough. That mischief 
will not be lessened, but infinitely increased, if an answer¬ 
ing display of inconsistency be made on this side of the 


294 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOPiD MACAULAY. 


House. I admit that the circumstance of this bill being 
brought in by Tories—or Conservatives, whichever they 
term themselves—may of itself produce evils; they would 
be doubled if it were rejected by means of the Whigs. It 
seems to me that then we should have nothing before us 
but one vast shipwreck of all the public character in the 
kingdom. And therefore it is that, though at the cost of 
sacrifices which it is not agreeable to any man to make, 
and restraining many feelings that I own stir strongly 
within me, I have determined to give to this bill, through 
all its stages, my most steady support. To this bill, and 
to every bill emanating from the Government which shall 
appear to me calculated to make Great Britain and Ireland 
one united kingdom, I will give my support; regardless of 
obloquy, regardless of the risk which I know I run of losing 
my seat in Parliament. Obloquy so earned I shall readily 
meet. As to my seat in Parliament, I will never hold it 
by an ignominious tenure ; and I am sure that I can never 
lose it in a more honourable cause.” 

His speech on the Irish Church ought to be mentioned. 
To the Irish Church he was almost bitterly opposed. He 
thought the Establishment ought to be swept away. I do 
not stay to discuss the question. I would venture to 
refer to an invaluable little book, Irish Histonj and Irish 
Character , by Professor Goldvin Smith, and to express a 
hope that the author will endeavour to elucidate this com¬ 
plex subject, and, I trust, arrive at a verdict very different 
to that pronounced by Mr. Macaulay. 

Concerning Sir Robert Peeks great apostacy on the Corn 
Laws, I have no need to speak. Mr. Macaulay took no 
share in those debates. He had a grand opportunity of 
bringing to a climax all his invectives against Sir Robert 
Peeks inconsistency, but, probably from a generous mo- 


POLITICAL MOVEMENTS. 


295 


tive, he forbore. Neither am I concerned with those 
moves of the political chess-hoard when Lord George 
Bentinck and Mr. Disraeli, bv coalescing with the Whigs, 
succeeded in ejecting Sir Robert, and in bestowing on the 
Liberals a prolonged tenure of power. When these events 
occurred, Mr. Macaulay once more took office as Pay¬ 
master-General. 


CHAPTER X. 


EDINBURGH. 

I propose in this chapter to give some account of the 
contested election for Edinburgh at the time when Mr. 
Macaulay vacated his seat by accepting office, which 
resulted in his return; of the contest which ensued at the 
general election about a year afterwards, in which he was 
rejected; of some public events in which he took share 
during the time that he was without a seat in Parliament; 
of the contested election at Edinburgh, in which he was 
returned without any solicitation on his part at the head 
of the poll, and of the renewed though unhappily brief 
parliamentary career that ensued. 

When he went down to Edinburgh for re-election, and 
had in laconic terms issued the customary address, he 
found there the threatening signs of opposition. Since 
his last election in 1841, the disruption, with all its 
mingled elements of good and evil, had taken place. In the 
heightened religious feeling of the times, and in the strong 
disposition of the Free Church to evince the spirit and tra¬ 
ditions that distinguished the old days of the Covenant, that 
hatred of popery which the history of popery in Great Bri¬ 
tain has made a national sentiment, and even an institution, 
had reached a point not much below that of the time of 
the London riots in the seventeenth century, or the Edin¬ 
burgh riots in the sixteenth. Very many earnest and 


INCONSISTENCY OF THE EDINBURGH ELECTORS. 297 

influential persons among the Free Churchmen and the 
Dissenters considered the Maynooth Grant a national sin, 
and every member who voted for it a guilty man. I trust 
I am not of the number of those who are bigoted towards 
bigotry, and intolerant towards intolerance. However 
deeply we may all regret the exclusion of Mr. Macaulay 
from the House of Commons, and the unhappiness which 
it unquestionably caused him, we must do justice to pure 
motives of earnest men, who, whether mistakenly or not, 
did under a profound sense of religious duty all in 
their power to deprive him of his seat, and eventually 
succeeded in their object. This party, however respect¬ 
able and well disposed, could not by themselves succeed 
in ejecting him. They were joined by allies of very 
questionable character, on whose co-operation they could 
scarcely reflect with complacency. They were themselves, 
on their own high ground, guilty of a glaring incon¬ 
sistency. Moreover the feeble spirit of democracy which 
pervaded old Athens, and caused its greatest satirist to 
depict the vagaries of King Mob, was strong in so-called 
modern Athens, and goes far to justify Bishop Butler’s 
celebrated speculation, that communities may run mad as 
w 7 ell as individuals. To use Macaulay’s own words, they 
degraded themselves in degrading him, and the verdict 
to be passed on their conduct is little else than Temporary 
Insanity. 

The inconsistency to which I allude is this. Mr. Gibson 
being the other Edinburgh member who had also voted 
for Maynooth, had similarly vacated his seat by accepting 
a minor office under Government. Those who opposed 
Mr. Macaulay on religious grounds, to be consistent, 
ought also to have opposed Mr. Craig. This, however, 
they did not do. After Mr. Craig had been returned 


298 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

without opposition, Mr. Macaulay stepped forward, and 
in trenchant language pointed out the inconsistency and 
unfairness. 

“ I scarcely know by what right I should address you 
to-day; but if you will extend to me the kindness of a very 
short hearing, I cannot refuse to do myself the pleasure 
of congratulating you—of congratulating my honourable 
friend—of congratulating his venerable parent, upon his 

return.Perhaps you will permit me, 

having discharged the duty of congratulating you, to say 
a few words respecting myself. If the opposition to me 
had been raised on any other grounds than those on which 
it has been raised, I should not on this occasion have 
come forward, for if a large party had chosen to oppose 
me, and yet if they supported my honourable friend, on the 
ground that his qualifications for business, and his local 
knowledge, were so greatly superior to mine—on the 
ground that he, as your townsman, and as the son of your 
most eminent townsman, had peculiar claims upon your 
favour, I would not have contested the correctness of 
such an opinion. Most readily shall I admit, on every 
ground but one, my honourable friend’s claims are supe¬ 
rior to mine; but on the particular ground on which I 
am opposed, I affirm that we stand exactly on the same 
footing. (Cheers.) I would not have said this till my 
honourable friend was elected. I would not have said so, 
while pointing to this argument I would seem to be 
endangering his return; but as that is past all danger, I 
will ask you to observe, what is the relation between him 
whom you have unanimously returned, and him for whom 
a poll is to be taken to-morrow. Both of us voted for the 
Maynooth Grant. Both of us voted for it through every 
stage. (Hear, hear, hear.) That paper of which so much 



SPEECH AT EDINBURGH. 


299 


lias been said—that resolution in which certain of the 
electors of the city of Edinburgh said that they would 
never again return a man who voted for the grant to 
Maynooth, was sent to my honourable friend as well as 
myself. That resolution was answered in the same 
manner. Both of us declared that we could not change 
our opinions — that we thought we w r ere right, and 
that we thought the Memorialists were wrong, and 
that we would continue to vote as we had done, and 
we continued to vote as we had done before. And 
now I ask, on what principle is it that my honourable 
friend shbuld be returned unanimously, and that any 
of the persons who acquiesced in returning him can con¬ 
sistently oppose me? (Hear, hear, hear.) I put the 
question on the point of Christian duty. (Cheers.) AVe 
stand before you on the same footing in respect to this 
question. We stand before you, in respect to the Catholic 
priesthood, exactly on the same footing. Every w r ord that 
I spoke in the Music Hall, my honourable friend after¬ 
wards adopted. Every word that he has spoken to-day 
I now adopt. (Cheers.) I hear that people are going 
about trying to put a gloss on my words, and saying that 
I say this thing and that thing, but I leave a loophole to 
myself. Now I ask you, has my conduct ever been of 
that kind ? (Cheers.) If my language to you has been 
generally that of shuffling, truckling, and evading—if I 
kept the promise to the ear, and broke it to the sense— 
then I admit you are right to pin me down to terms, 
framed as accurately as a bond, and as firmly as an Act 
of Parliament. (Cheers.) But if any person has resorted 
to such a course, I defy any one to say that it is I. I 
defy any elector of Edinburgh to produce a single instance 
of a pledge given by me wfflich has not been fully re- 


300 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


deemed. (Cheers.) I have only this to say, that the 
poll which comes on to-morrow I regard as of no common 
importance. It will be, I believe, the single poll which 
will be taken on the occasion of the formation of the new 
Administration. If this great city, the capital of Scot¬ 
land, shall pronounce that it has confidence in Her 
Majesty’s Government, if it shall pronounce it approves 
of a conciliatory policy towards Ireland, if it shall pro¬ 
nounce that it is determined not to insult and oppress 
one-third part of the population of the United Kingdom, 
it will render a great service to the cause of good govern¬ 
ment, and of civil and religious freedom. (Cheers.) The 
contrary result I will not permit myself to anticipate. I 
believe that our victory is certain. (Loud cheers.) But 
it must be your care to make it decisive. Let me entreat 
you to remember that every vote is of consequence; not 
so much because the event is doubtful, as because the 
majority will produce an effect which will be felt all over 
England and Ireland. (Cheers.) On Wednesday, vic¬ 
torious or vanquished, I will meet you here again; for, be 
the result what it may, I will look you in the face without 
shame. (Cheers.) I trust, however, that I shall come 
here to congratulate you on another triumph, and to 
return you thanks similar to those which have been with 
so much propriety, manliness, and eloquence, addressed 
to you by my honourable friend. (Loud cheers.) ” 

Sir Culling Eardley Smith was the anti-popery candi¬ 
date. Sir James Forrest, who in other days had proposed 
Mr. Macaulay, was the chairman of Sir Culling’s com¬ 
mittee. That gentleman issued an address, in which he 
protested, doubtless in perfect good faith, that nothing 
but the hope that he might be instrumental in promoting 
the cause of their common Protestantism induced him to 


DEFENCE OF HIS MAYNOOTH VOTE. 


301 


come forward. He addressed a crowded meeting in the 
Waterloo Rooms, and had a very favourable reception. 
Mr. Macaulay also addressed his constituents at the Music 
Hall in an eloquent speech of an hour’s duration. From his 
speech, as reported in the local papers, we extract a few 
graphic passages. He at the outset spoke in graceful, and 
something more than graceful terms of Sir Robert Peel. 

“ I have, in what seemed to me to be the proper place 
and the proper time, said of him that which I think. I 
have not shrunk in his presence, and when at the height 
of his power, from censuring those parts of his conduct 
which seemed to me to be censurable : and it is not in his 
absence—it is not when he has" just quitted power, and at 
the moment when he has rendered a great service to the 
country, that I feel inclined to throw any imputations 
upon him. I would willingly pass by his errors, and 
dwell only on his reparation. I would willingly forget 
what were the means by which he rose to power, and 
remember only for what ends he has used it.” 

He then discussed in vivid language the conduct of the 
Whigs during Lord Melbourne’s Ministry, and during 
their term of opposition. Amid abundant cheering and 
hissing he defended his vote on the Maynooth question. 
He sketched the position of the new Ministry, and con¬ 
cluded as follows:— 

“ Whether I shall be honoured by bearing a part in 
those noble and beneficent measures that shall engage 
its councils, it is for you to determine. I shall await your 
determination with little doubt, and with no fear. The 
contest, which we are told is at hand, can have no issue 
for which I am not perfectly prepared. Seven years ago, 
at your spontaneous invitation, an invitation neither 
directly, nor indirectly, sought by me, I re-entered 


30 Z 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


public life, which till then, I thought, I had left for ever. 
While I retained your confidence, I was determined that 
I would not quit my post. If you now reject my ser¬ 
vices, it is not my intention to tender them to any other 
body of electors. I shall consider myself as having 
received a legitimate and honourable dismissal, such as 
will authorise me to return to pursuits from which I have 
derived more happiness than I ever enjoyed in the affairs 
of the British Senate. To hold office under an adminis¬ 
tration, or to be in Parliament, ought not to be necessary 
to any maffis happiness, and I bless God that it is not 
necessary to mine. I do not think any man an object of 
pity who can, with a character and conscience unsullied, 
exchange politics for the pleasure of literature and 
domestic life,—which have a pleasure and distinction which 
the Government can neither give nor take away. I shall 
carry with me to my retreat one only regret, a regret 
of no selfish kind. It will deeply pain me to think that at 
a time like this—a time when the prospect of good govern¬ 
ment and repose was opening before us, a time when, 
after so long a period of gloom and tempest, the dawn 
of a bright and tranquil day seemed to be breaking upon 
Ireland, when throughout Great Britain all passions 
seemed to be strangely lulled, when the constituent 
bodies of the empire, to which a solemn appeal was made, 
everywhere answered that appeal in a manner honour¬ 
able to their good feeling—that there should have been 
one place under the dominion of senseless clamour and 
malevolent prejudices, worthy only of a dark age. Yes; 
for such clamours and such prejudices might well become 
a dark age,—they might well become a rude and bar¬ 
barous nation; but it will be to me a subject of deep 
regret, if I have to carry into my retreat the thought, 


SPEECH OF THE LORD PROVOST. 


303 


that I found it dominant in the liberal and enlightened 
city of Edinburgh in the nineteenth century.” 

The nomination day was Friday, July the 10th. He 
was proposed by the Lord Provost (Mr. Black) in an 
eloquent speech, as one who had served them faithfully 
for seven years. “ If,” said the Lord Provost with elo¬ 
quent truthfulness, “ it has been an honour to him to 
be elected representative of the capital of Scotland, it has 
been no less an honour to us that we have a member in 
Parliament whose speeches and writings have delighted and 
instructed not only his own countrymen, but all wherever 
the English language is read. If we were now to refuse 
to return him, it would not only be an injury and dis¬ 
grace to this city, but it would be an injury to that 
Parliament of which he is so bright an ornament. It 
would also be an injury which would be felt by the 
country at large. ... Is there nothing else to do 
in Parliament but to attend to Maynooth ? Are there 
not ten thousand things of more interest to the country 
than Maynooth? . . . There is but one subject, 

there is but one point, as to which there has been fault 
found with him. Take it for granted that he is wrong, 
are we to declare that a friend who has been once wrong 
is to be discarded for that point? But I do not admit 
that he is wrong.” 

Sir James Forrest, in proposing the other candidate, 
read some words from what Mr. Macaulay said in answer 
to the requisition signed by upwards of a thousand 
electors. “ I differ from a great portion of the electors 
of Edinburgh, but I will maintain my opinion firmly and 
unhesitatingly. I know that I am incurring a great risk, 
that I may lose my seat here, that I may be called upon 
to pay the penalty for maintaining my opinion, but not- 


304 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 


withstanding this I will not retract, I will not explain. 
I am prepared to pay that penalty if you will call upon 
me to do so.” Sir James said, “ that the language of 
the requisitionists was not a bare threat, a mere bugbear. 
As a consistent elector he should redeem his pledge.” 
And so on. 

A few words from Mr. Macaulay's address. The fol¬ 
lowing was from his speech on the hustings on nomina¬ 
tion day. 

Mr. Macaulay came forward, and was received with 
marks of approbation and hissing. When he obtained 
a hearing, he said :—“ It has ever been my practice, 
when it has been my duty to address any large assembly 
of the British people, and when I have known that 
there was any subject on which their views were parti¬ 
cularly opposed to mine, at once, in a straightforward 
and manly way, to begin with that particular question. 
(Cheers.) This is the course which I shall take to-day. 
I have listened with the utmost attention to the reasons 
given by Sir James Forrest for bringing forward a 
candidate in opposition to a member, who has faithfully 
served you during seven years (cheers and hisses), and 
to a Government which is entering upon its adminis¬ 
tration with fair prospects, I think, of repose to the 
country, and of civil and religious liberty to all classes of 
Her Majesty's subjects. (Hear, hear, from Mr. Macaulay's 
friends on the hustings.) I have listened to these 
reasons, and what are they ? That honourable baronet 
acknowledges, and much more than acknowledges, for he 
praises me in terms most unmerited, the abilities which 
he has the goodness to impute to me. (Cheers.) He 
declares that if he looked only to my political conduct, 
he could not desire another representative. His decla- 


VICTORY OVER SIR C. E. SMITH. 


305 


ration, his whole opposition to me rests on one principle, 
and on one principle alone—on one vote, and one vote 
alone—on the vote on the subject of Maynooth. Of the 
history of Maynooth, of the nature of that Institution, 
the Honourable Baronet is profoundly ignorant. (Cheers 
and hisses.) I will undertake to show to the satisfaction 
of every one of you, that the Honourable Baronet 
cannot in the least be bound to vote against me by 
anything that he may have written and signed, in the 
month of April, 1845, seeing that he did not know 
what he was talking about. (Laughter and hisses.) The 
Honourable Baronet says, ( that the very setting up of 
Maynooth at all, from its origin, was an outrage to 
Protestant feelings in this country (a voice from the 
crowd, ‘ So it was *) ; that it was a monstrous wrong to 
take our property to give it to this Catholic Institution/ 
The Honourable Baronet does not know that this Insti¬ 
tution was set up by the Irish Parliament, when England 
and when Scotland had nothing whatever to do with the 
question, when Ireland was absolutely governed by its 
King, its Irish House of Lords, and its Irish House of 
Commons—when absolutely we in Scotland had nothing 
more to do with the founding, with the endowing of that 
Institution, than we have now to do with the endowing 
of convents in Spain. (Cheers.) . . . .” 

A very large proportion of the electors did not vote. 
This time Mr. Macaulay was returned, the numbers 

being:— 

For Mr. Macaulay . . . 1735 

For Sir C. E. Smith . . . 832 

Majority . . . 903 

The next election, however, was not far off, and it was 
resolved that he should then be most strenuously opposed. 



306 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 

Again, the Free Churchmen and the Dissenters were pre¬ 
pared to coalesce against the supporter of Maynooth. It 
so happened that circumstances had intensified this feel¬ 
ing. The Government had created a new bishopric, that 
of Manchester, and the old Presbyterian prejudice against 
prelacy was bitterly wounded. It was said at Edinburgh 
that on this occasion the pharisees had united with the 
publicans. Without applying so invidious a term to the 
Dissenters and Presbyterians, it is true enough that they 
succeeded in their object by a coalition with the publicans 
and spirit dealers. These last had sent him a deputation 
with regard to what they considered undue restrictions on 
their licences, and Mr. Macaulay had given them to 
understand that he could do nothing for them. Of course 
great capital was made by these men of the renowned 
‘ braying 3 of Exeter Hall. In due season Mr. Macaulay 
issued his address, in which lie asked for the renewal of the 
high and honourable trust which they had already reposed 
in him four times during eight years. It was announced 
that Mr. Cowan, of Valleyfield, a large paper manufac¬ 
turer, and who was pretty much as paper is to writing 
when compared with Mr. Macaulay, was to be the opposi¬ 
tion candidate. As usual, Mr. Macaulay appeared at the 
Music Hall and defended his conduct. 

On Education and the Suffrage .—“ Then I would not 
only speak my own sentiments on this subject, but when I 
hear that the interference of the State in education is de¬ 
scribed as inconsistent with civil liberty, and inconsistent 
with the voluntary system, I cannot but recollect that 
during that debate, after which the House of Commons by 
so great a majority decided in favour of the policy of the 
Government, there sat under the gallery of the House of 
Commons, watching our debate with painful interest and 


ON EDUCATION AND THE SUFFRAGE. 


307 


attention, some eminent citizens of the United States, 
men who have been called by their countrymen to the 
highest offices—citizens of New England, the genuine 
pure breed of the old Puritans, the men who had fled 
from the tyranny of a too powerful church, and who had 
sought for freedom in the desert, rather than be denied 
the rights of conscience in the land of their birth. 
(Applause.) With these men I had the happiness of 
speaking, and can truly say they thought it one of the 
strangest of all paradoxes, coming from a land of uni¬ 
versal suffrage—coming from the land of the voluntary 
system—to pronounce that State education was incon¬ 
sistent with the principles either of civil or religious free¬ 
dom. On the contrary, if you ask an enlightened New 
Englander, he will tell you it is because we have State 
education we have these things; it is because the State 
educates the boy that we can safely give a vote to the 
man; it is because the State furnishes the boy with the 
schoolmaster that we can trust the man to furnish himself 
with a priest. (Applause.) I have never, as you know, 
attempted to court popular applause by declaring myself 
an advocate for a wide extension of the suffrage; but this 
I say, that if the suffrage is to be extended far more 
widely than it is at present, in my opinion it will be when 
the mind of the generation of the British people has been 
prepared by an improved system of education. (Applause 
and disapprobation.) My belief is that in that way alone 
is the franchise attainable by the body of the people, or 
can be useful to the body of the people. To give the fran¬ 
chise to men whom you leave ignorant, is to transfer them 
from one slavery to another. Let it be supposed that you 
take an ignorant, besotted, and superstitious people, led 
up and down by the priest of some false or corrupt 


808 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


religion, who makes them believe that every word he 
utters has the force of the gospel; do you imagine that by 
doing away in such a community with rotten boroughs, and 
giving them universal suffrage, you would be giving them 
freedom? You would be merely transferring the power 
from the boroughmonger to the priest; you would be 
merely transferring from one tyranny to another; and I 
believe that the intellectual tyranny would be the worst. 
I believe that there is no slavery like that of the iron 
which enters into the soul. I believe that the real secret 
of all liberty will be found in those words by which Divine 
wisdom rebuked those who vainly boasted of their free¬ 
dom : * If the truth shall make you free ye shall be free 
indeed.-’ ” 

The following is a graphic account of the close of a 
session :— 

“No Parliament in which I had sat had ever died what 
might be called a natural death—the last Parliament that 
did so being that which was elected in 1820—and which 
lasted till 1826. Few of us, therefore, could remember 
what the last hours of a Parliament were which knows 
that it has but a few hours to live. I may tell you what 
they are: The House of Commons is turned into a mere 
hustings. Every member is thinking about his election 
and his constituents. There is no wish to push forward 
the public business, but there is a great desire in many 
members to write and make speeches, which they hope 
will go to the burghs and counties and secure their return. 
Accordingly you see motions made of the most absurd 
kind, motions which nobody ever thought of making, 
during the first five years of Parliament—motions which 
could not be carried in less than six months, and which 
were merely - intended as a kind of bait to their con- 


PROCEEDINGS OF A MORIBUND PARLIAMENT. 309 

stituents. In tlie same manner gentlemen, who had 
neglected their parliamentary duties, and stayed away 
during the first five years, came down in a great hurry 
to- make their presence and existence known in the sixth 
year. (Laughter.) Other gentlemen, who came in on 
high Protectionist grounds, having, in following their 
leaders, turned round and broken their promise to their 
constituencies, and voted for the repeal of the Corn Laws, 
finding themselves in danger of falling between two stools, 
immediately began to take up the highest Protectionist 
language, while others assumed the highest Radical lan¬ 
guage, in the hope of managing for themselves some 
escape or another.” 

The following is the conclusion of his speech on this 
occasion:— 

“ In reference to all questions in respect of my conduct, 
it is for you to decide. If your decision shall be adverse 
I shall submit to it without a murmur. That decision, if 
it be adverse, will probably deprive me of some things 
which may be thought enviable; of some things which 
few persons who had so little pretension to them from 
their fortune and social position have attained to in our 
time. But my estimate of happiness does not agree with 
those who place it on such objects. I can truly say I 
never sought for those things by any crooked course— 
that I found them only because they lay in the way of 
duty, and honour, and virtue—that I never solicited them, 
and that I can relinquish them without a pang. Exclu¬ 
sion from public life may have terrors for the man who is 
conscious he has brought it upon himself by unworthy 
conduct towards his country. It may have terrors to the 
man who has no tastes and no occupations to supply the 
place of public business; but as for me, my conscience 


310 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOKD MACAULAY. 

reproaches me with no wrong. On my integrity, malice 
itself has never thrown a stain. I have no fear that my 
hours will pass heavily in retirement; and I do not 
altogether despair of being able to show, that even in 
retirement, something may be done for the greatest and 
most lasting interests of society. Feeling this, I assure 
you that if you shall think fit to pronounce my dismissal, 

I shall accept that dismissal not only with tranquillity, 
but with unaffected cheerfulness. I assure you that 
no bitter feeling will mingle with the gratitude with 
which 1 shall always remember your past kindness; and 
the very worst wish that I still have for the gentleman 
who may succeed me is, that he may find in politics as 
much satisfaction as I shall hope to find in letters and 
repose.” 

On the day of nomination he was proposed in a hearty 
and eloquent speech by Mr. Adam Black, the proprietor 
of that most national work the Encyclopedia Britannica. 

It was very fitly done that such a man should be his pro¬ 
poser. The seconder was also appropriately chosen. This 
was Mr. William Tait, the publisher or quondam pub¬ 
lisher of a periodical that once had a considerable reputa¬ 
tion. Neither mover nor seconder could be heard among 
the ravings of the frantic and excited mob. Never was 
a proud capital so disgraced as by the proceedings of that 
day. Besides the three Liberal candidates, Macaulay, y 
Gibson Craig, and Cowan, the Conservatives had started 
Mr. Peter Blackburn, "in the hope that in the scramble 
among the three Liberals they might slip in a Tory.” 
During the proceedings, an effigy was lifted up on a pole on 
which there was a representation of a jolly looking bishop 
in full canonicals. It had the following inscription :— 


LAST SPEECH FROM THE EDINBURGH HUSTINGS. 311 


“The Manchester Bishop. 

“ The citizens of Edinburgh, electors, and non-electors, 
are respectfully informed that the model now exhibited 
will after the nomination be consigned to the care of 
Provost Black, for the further inspection of the curious. 

“ Bussell, Macaulay, & Co., manufacturers. Price to 
the country £5000 per annum. 

“N. B.—A fresh supply may be looked for shortly after 
the meeting of the New Parliament. Prices as above.” 

Mr. Macaulay, for the last time, advanced to address 
an Edinburgh audience from the public hustings. Here 
is the speech, with all the interruptions. It is sad to 
think of so great a man being baited and bullied by a 
violent and insensate mob, hounded on by the mingled 
cries of licensed victuallers :— 

“ There have been times, gentlemen, in which un¬ 
doubtedly it was true that the service of the Crown was 

incompatible with the service of the people.There 

have been times,—I speak of those times while the con¬ 
stitution was still taking its form. I speak of the times 
which preceded the settlement which led to the Bevo- 
lution, when undoubtedly it was not for the interest of 
any great community to confide the care of its welfare 
in Parliament to any person who was in the service of 
the Crown. (Hear, hear.) In these times the Sove¬ 
reign and the House of Commons were enemies. 
Their whole existence was an existence of constant war. 
The Crown supported evil favourites against the voice of 
the Commons. The Commons withheld from the Crown 
habitually, the supplies necessary for the carrying on the 
administration of Government. (Cries of Question, 
Question/) The great object of the House of Commons 


312 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 


was to obtain some concession from tlie Crown, and some 
prerogative in return for doling out the supplies. The 
great object of the Crown was to cheat the House of 
Commons out of money—to hurry the session as fast as 
possible to an end, the Government during several years 
being without any parliament at all. (‘ Question, Ques¬ 
tion/ and hisses.) The effect of this separation between 
the Executive and the Legislative powers was weakness 
in all our councils, internal discord, and the humiliation 
of the nation in the eyes of all foreign powers. At 
length a happier time arrived. The different powers 
which had contended were brought into harmony. The 
Crown having been placed under certain restraints, it 
became impossible for any Ministry not supported by the 
House of Commons to hold office for more than a few 
weeks. During a long course of time, no person could 
be a Minister of the Crown unless the people, speaking by 
their representatives, approved of the general conduct of 
the Administration. (Cries of ‘ Question/ hisses, and 
uproar.) From the time that this became the case—from 
the time that the Sovereign began to proceed on the 
principle of constantly administering the Government in 
conformity with the sense of the representatives of the 
people."’'’ (Renewed cries of ‘ Question, question/ which 
came from some persons on the left of the platform as 
well as from the crowd.) When silence was obtained, Mr. 
Macaulay, turning round in an indignant manner to 
those who interrupted him, said, “ Am I not speaking to 
the question ? (Cries of f No, no/ and ‘ Yes, yes/) What 
is the charge that has been made against me this day 
except this ? (Interruption and confusion, which pre¬ 
vailed for some time.) Are the qualities which should 
recommend a man to the favour of the Executive Govern- 


LAST SPEECH FROM THE EDINBURGH HUSTINGS. 313 

ment distinct from those which should recommend him to 
the favour of his constituents ? And when I hear it made 
a reproach to this great city, that it has been misrepre¬ 
sented by my Lord Jeffrey—(hear, hear),—by my Lord 
Dunfermline, by my Lord Campbell—(Confusion.) When 
I hear it made a reproach to you, and held up to you as 
a disgrace that the men upon whom your choice has 
fallen should have been the men whom the Sovereign, by 
the approbation of the representative body of the nation, 
has repeatedly called to stations of the highest trust, then 
I say that those who w ould so instruct and teach us this 

destructive doctrine-. (Hisses and uproar prevented 

the right lion, gentleman from finishing the sentence.) I 
believe you will admit this, that if your representative be 
an honest man—(A cry of ‘ He is not’)—his power to 
serve you as a Minister of the Crown is greater than his 
power as a private Member of Parliament. I believe that 
you will admit, that if he be not an honest man, in or out 
of office, he is certain to betray you. (Hear, hear, and 
cries of f You have done so.’) Don’t imagine it is only 
one in office who is under corrupt influence. If you 
send mercenary men to Parliament—(great hissing, which 
continued for some time),—wdiile I say this, I at the same 
time beg to state, that 1 fully believe I throw no imputa¬ 
tion upon my opponents,—if you send mercenary men to 
Parliament, in office or out of office, for some price and to 
some customer, they will manage to sell themselves and 
to sell you. (Cheers and hisses, and a cry of ‘ It’s time 
you were done.’) I firmly believe that the honourable 
gentlemen who stand on the other side of the sheriff are 
as incapable of so betraying a trust reposed in them as I 
myself am. But I am certain that they are not more so ; 
and this I will say, that if it be your pleasure to send, for 



314 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


example, Mr. Blackburn, instead of myself, to the House 
of Commons, if lie should, as in that case I heartily hope 
he may, prove himself deserving every way of your con¬ 
fidence, if he should in public life show considerable 
talent for debate and for business—if he should obtain 
the ear of Parliament—if he should obtain the confidence 
of the whole Parliament, on account of the ability with 
which he discusses, and the clearness with which he ex¬ 
plains difficult questions—and if in consequence of a 
revolution in public affairs, those with whom he is more 
nearly connected in opinion should come into power, they 
should say to him, ‘We think your abilities are such that 
you may be of use to the State as Secretary of War, or 
as President of the Board of Trade ’ —(laughter, cries of 
‘ Oh, oh/ and some confusion)—if, I say, that should 
happen, then I should consider it as the most monstrous 
injustice to say that because he has so signally vindicated 
your choice—because the Ministry which must be sup¬ 
ported by the great body of the representatives of the 
empire conceived him to be a man who might be useful 
to his country in high places, you should therefore with¬ 
draw the trust which you had placed in him.—(Cheers, 
and cries of ‘ Oh, oh.-’) I have done. I am, perhaps, 
addressing you for the last time. (Cries of ‘ So much the 
better/ and ‘No, no > —‘Yes, yes/) Allow me some 
indulgence. Some indulgence is shown to the last 
speeches of convicted criminals. (Laughter.) I have, 
therefore, only to say that to your decision, whatever it 
may be, I shall submit respectfully—( a voice, ‘ You can¬ 
not help it ; )—and without repining; that I shall retain 
a grateful sense of your past kindness; and that my only 
wish is this, that your decision may be one which, when 
the irritation of the moment has passed away, and when 


REASONS OF DEFEAT. 


315 


you calmly review the whole history of the relation which 
existed between us, yon may conscientiously approve of— 

(Cheers and loud hisses)—.” 

By this time the symptoms of affairs began to be 
alarming. It had nearly been seriously apprehended 
that the great commoner, whose noble writings possessed 
a European fame, whose lofty eloquence charmed all 
hearts, would really be thrown out by a local tradesman. 
And at a very early stage of the poll it became evident that 
Mr. Macaulay’s opponents were united and triumphant, 
while his friends were disorganised and dispirited. At 
first he took a good position on the poll, but he soon fell 
to the third place. It was hoped that in an hour or two 
a different result would he shown, hut each hour the 
aspect of things grew darker. So early as twelve o’clock 
it was clear that the fight was lost. At four o’clock the 
numbers stood thus :— 

Mr. Cowan . . . .2063 
Mr. Craig . . . 1854 

Mr. Macaulay . . . 1477 
Mr. Blackburn . . . . 980 

Mr. Macaulay did not attend the declaration of the 
poll. _ 

The Times correspondent says, “ The result was brought 
about by a heterogeneous combination of parties, includ¬ 
ing the hulk of the old Dissenters and Eree Churchmen, 
the Radicals, the Tories, and the Excise Traders, whose 
bond of union was not so much superior admiration of 

any other candidate as a determination to get rid of 
* 

Mr. Macaulay by whatever means. One very general 
objection entertained to the latter gentleman was that 
he was haughty and contemptuous in his bearing towards 
the electors, and had .no sympathy with their local in- 



316 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

terests and feelings. The Voluntaries, who are a numerous 
and powerful body, felt that he had not been in the habit 
of paying sufficient deference to their views and opinions, 
while they as well as the Free Churchmen, and many of 
the Tories, were jealous of his intentions as regards the 
endowment of the Roman Catholics. The Excise traders 
also, who are understood to have commanded about 400 
or 500 votes alone, and who had been acting of late 
with singular vigour and determination, thought that 
neither Mr. Craig, nor he, was inclined to go far enough 
in their service. They thought it would be a close run, 
and they were astonished at their own success. The 
Catholics voted for him in a body. There was great 
excitement at all the polling booths.” 

Mr. Macaulay issued the following address to the 
electors:— 

“London, August 2nd, 1847. 

“ Gentlemen, —You have been pleased to dismiss me 
from your service, and I submit to your pleasure without 
repining. The generous conduct of those who gave me 
their support, I shall always remember with gratitude. If 
anything has occurred of which I might justly complain, 
I have forgiven, and shall soon forget it. The points on 
which we have differed I leave with confidence to the 
judgment of my country. I cannot expect that you will 
at present admit my views to be correct; but the time 
will come when you will calmly review the history of 
my connection with Edinburgh. You will then, I am 
convinced, acknowledge that if I incurred your dis¬ 
pleasure, I incurred it by remaining faithful to the 
general interests of the empire, and to the fundamental 
principles of the Constitution. I shall always be proud 
to think that I once enjoyed jmur favour, but permit me 


MEMENTO OF THE DAY OF DEFEAT. 


317 


to say, I shall remember, not less proudly, how I risked 
and how I lost it. With every wish for the peace and 
prosperity of your city, I have the honour to be, gentle¬ 
men, your faithful servant, 

a T. B. Macaulay.” 

There remains a most interesting memento of that day, 
namely, an autobiographical sketch, from which we quoted 
at the commencement of the work. The following stanzas 
have allusions both to Edinburgh and India. 

Lines written in August , 181-7. 

“ The day of tumult, strife, defeat, was o’er ; 

Worn out with toil, Avith noise, and scorn, and spleen, 

I slumber’d, and in slumber saw once more 
A room in an old mansion, long unseen.” 

He then tells how his kind genius reassured him. 

‘ ‘ Thine, when around thy litter’s track all day 

White sandhills shall reflect the blinding glare ; 

Thine, when through forests breathing death, thy way 
All night shall wind by many a tiger’s lair ; 

“ Thine most when friends turn pale, when traitors fly. 

When, hard beset, thy spirit, justly proud, 

For truth, peace, freedom, mercy, dares defy 
A sullen priesthood and a rawing cro\\ r d. 

“ Amidst the din of all things fell and vile, 

Hate’s yell, and envy’s hiss, and folly’s bray, 

Remember me ; and with an unforced smile 
See riches, baubles, flatterers, pass away. 

“ Yes : they will pass away ; nor deem it strange : 

They come and go, as comes and goes the sea. 

And let them come and go : thou through all change 
Fix thy firm gaze on virtue and on me.” 

Every public organ that had a right to speak with 
authority, every newspaper of any standing, every indivi- 


318 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


dual of large and enlightened mind, spoke with astonish¬ 
ment and regret of the great misfortune that had befallen 
the Parliament and the nation in the exclusion of Mr. 
Macaulay from the Councils of England. It was expected, 
as a matter of course, that ministerial arrrangments would 
speedily be made whereby Mr. Macaulay should once 
more find himself in Parliament. Undoubtedly Lord 
John Russell would strain every nerve, and would be able 
to achieve this for his illustrious friend. Undoubtedly 
almost the first popular constituency where a vacancy 
might occur would be rejoiced to have the honour of 
returning him. But Mr. Macaulay considered himself 
jam rude donatus. Parliament meant a great deal to 
him; office, power, a very large income, for an indefinite 
series of years. But he had stood in such an honourable 
and remarkable position as member for Edinburgh, that 
he would not after the fashion of an ordinary Cabinet 
Minister be glad to take refuge in an ordinary borough. 
That position was to be still more unique and honourable 
when repentant but stultified Edinburgh wooed him back 
in most suppliant mood. 

Few statesmen, in an enforced retirement, have been 
consoled with such consolations as were his. Two years 
later the University of Glasgow elected him Lord Rector. 
This is a very unique and remarkable distinction. The 
students, a body of about a thousand young men of 
all ages, from fifteen to thirty, possess the privilege of 
electing their own Lord Rector. This privilege they have 
so worthily exercised, that few, save truly illstrious names, 
are to be found upon the roll of Lord Rectors; and most 
eminent men have avowed that they have looked upon 
this distinction as an object of worthy though perhaps 
unattainable ambition. Mr. Macaulay was elected Lord 


LOUD RECTOR OF GLASGOW UNIVERSITY. 319 


Rector by a large majority of the students. When he 
came down in March, 1849, to deliver his inaugural 
address, the excitement and the desire to hear him was 
intense. Ten pounds, I have been informed, w r as offered 
for the privilege of a seat to hear him. The speech is 
to the last degree admirable. He afterwards proceeded 
to visit the stately Exchange, and the magnificent 
Athenaeum; and to the immense gratification of the 
authorities he wrote down his name on the books. 
Crowds admiringly followed him wherever he went, eager 
to hear his voice, to catch a glimpse of his face, even to 
see his handwriting. Those who had the good fortune 
to meet him at breakfast or dinner during his brief stay, 
circulated marvellous stories respecting the wonders of 
his memory, and the brilliancy of his conversation. 

The good people of Glasgow were determined to 
shame their brethren of the burgh of Edinburgh. 
It was resolved to present Mr. Macaulay with the 
freedom of the City. The Glasgow City Hall is a noble 
structure, capable of containing, with ease, three thousand 
persons. When it is really a grand demonstration day, 
when the very best of the men and women of Glasgow 
gather together in their noble hall for some special purpose, 
the effect is in the highest degree grand and striking. 
Before such an assembly, then, was Mr. Macaulay sum¬ 
moned to receive the freedom of the City. An address 
was presented to him, written a little in that turgid style 
for which civic addresses are remarkable; but, nevertheless, 
unmistakeably expressing through the cloud of words the 
hearty joy they felt in seeing him, and how much they felt 
that they were doing honour to their city in conferring 
honour upon him. Mr. Macaulay would not fail to recollect 
that when Sir Robert. Peel was elected Lord Rector, a similar 


320 THE TUBL1C LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

distinction was conferred upon him; and Sir Robert’s 
speech at that time was a manifesto which produced its 
effect in every part of the kingdom. 

The Glasgow daily paper says:—“The box containing 
the deed conveying the freedom of the City to Mr. 
Macaulay was placed on the table before the Lord 
Provost. It is an exquisite specimen of taste and skill 
combined. It is composed of silver, electro-gilt, and the 
embossing on the lid, with the arms and heraldic motto of 
the City, thrown out in burnished bas-relief, is extremely 
rich, and at the same time most chaste. The box was 
manufactured by Mr. James Muirhead, Goldsmith, Bu¬ 
chanan Street. It is about 7 inches in length, 5 inches in 
breadth, and 3 and a quarter in depth; and is one of the 
handsomest articles of the kind we ever witnessed. In 
addition to the box for holding the parchment scroll con¬ 
veying the freedom of the town, there is also a neat little 
circular box, of solid gold, for the purpose of holding the 
seal. 

“ Mr. Macaulay then rose, amid the waving of hats and 
handkerchiefs by the vast assembly. The cheering having 
subsided, he went on to say: f I thank you, my lord and 
gentlemen, I thank you, from my heart, for this great 
honour. I may, I hope, extend those thanks further; I 
may extend them to that constituent body of which, I 
believe, you are on this occasion the expositor, and which 
has received me here in a manner which has made an 
impression never to be effaced from my mind. (Cheers.) 
This box, my lord, I shall prize as long as I live, and it 
will when I am gone—(here the honourable gentleman’s 
voice faltered with deep emotion)—be prized by those 
who are dearest to me, as a proof that in an active and 
chequered life, political and literary, I succeeded in gaining 


REPENTANCE OF EDINBURGH. 


321 


tlie esteem and goodwill of one of the greatest and most 
enlightened cities in the British empire. (Cheers.) My 
political life, my lord, has closed. The feelings which 
contention and rivalry naturally call forth, and from which 
I do not pretend to have been exempted, have had time to 
cool down. I look now on the events in which I bore a 
part as calmly, I think, as on the events of the past 
century. I can do that justice now to honourable 
opponents which perhaps in moments of conflict I have 
sometimes refused to them. I believe I can judge as 
impartially of my own career as that of another man. I 
acknowledge great errors and deficiency; but I have 
nothing to acknowledge which is inconsistent with recti¬ 
tude of intention and independence of spirit. (Cheers.) 
My conscience bears me this testimony: that I honestly 
desired the happiness and greatness of my country; that 
my course, right or wrong, was never determined by any 
selfish or sordid motive; and that in troubled times, and 
through many vicissitudes of fortune, in power and out of 
power, through popularity and unpopularity, I was faithful 
to one set of friends and one set of opinions. I see no 
reason to doubt that these friends were well chosen, or 
that these opinions were, in the main, correct/ ” 

Years passed by, and the citizens of Edinburgh became 
heartily ashamed of their conduct. The best people of 
Edinburgh began to think it was high time to wipe away, 
if it were possible, this great reproach from Edinburgh. 
It was out of the question that Mr. Macaulay would ever 
a^ain offer himself as a candidate; but it was possible that 
if elected he would consent to serve. Even this point 
remained in some doubt. It was only a few days before 
the nomination that he announced his willingness to accept 
the place of their representative, if elected. As soon as it 


322 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

was fully understood that Mr. Macaulay was really to be 
placed in nomination, there was not a doubt that he would 
be elected, and brought in at the head of the poll. All 
parties confessed that the scramble among the different 
candidates would be for the second place. Even the 
Witness , which had been clamorous against him on former 
occasions, did not venture to say a word, and adopted an 
apologetic tone. Still, by some persons the old grievance 
was harped upon with unbecoming persistence. The 
following is a letter sent to Mr. Macaulay, with his 
answer thereto :— 

“ To the Right Honourable Thomas Babington Macaulay. 

“ Sir,— I am directed by the Committee of the Scottish 
Reformation Society, many of whom are electors of the 
city of Edinburgh, to transmit to you a copy of resolutions 
adopted at the annual public meeting of the society, held 
in December last; and respectfully to inquire, whether, in 
the event of your being returned to Parliament, you are 
prepared to support a bill for the repeal of the Act 
authorising the annual grant to the College of Maynootln 
and also to vote against any farther grant to that institu¬ 
tion. I am further instructed to request the honour of 
an early reply to this communication. 

“ I have the honour to be, &c., 

(Signed) “ Geo. Lyon, Secretary.” 

The reply was as follows :— 

To the Secretary of the Scottish Reformation Society , 

6, York Place, Edinburgh. 

“Albany, London, June 23, 1852. 

“ Sir,—I must beg to be excused from answering the 
questions which you have put to me. I have a great 


TERMS OF REPRESENTATION. 323 

respect for the gentlemen in whose name you write, hut I 
have nothing to ask of them; I am not a candidate for 
their suffrages; I have no desire to sit again in Parlia¬ 
ment, and I certainly shall never again sit there, except 
in an event which I did not till very lately contemplate as 
possible, and which even now seems to me highly impro¬ 
bable. If, indeed, the electors of such a city as Edin¬ 
burgh should, without requiring from me any explanation 
or any guarantee, think fit to confide their interests to my 
care, I should not feel myself justified in refusing to 
accept a public trust offered to me in a manner so honour¬ 
able and so peculiar. I have not, I am sensible, the 
smallest right to expect that I shall on such terms be 
chosen to represent a great constituent body; but I have 
a right to say that on no other terms can I be induced to 
leave that quiet and happy retirement in which I have 
passed the last four years. 

“ I have the honour to be, &c. 

fC (Signed) T. B. Macaulay / 5 

His feeling on the subject is also expressed in a pub¬ 
lished letter to Mr. Black, a sentence or two of which we 
quote. He is alluding to the ill-natured use that was 
sought to be made of his conduct and language. “ I say 
that to be elected member for Edinburgh without appear¬ 
ing as a candidate would be a high and peculiar honour 
an honour which would induce me to make a sacrifice 
such as I would make in no other case; and I am told 
that this is to treat the electors contemptuously. My lan¬ 
guage, naturally construed, was respectful uay, humble. 
If any person finds an insult in it, the reason must be 
that he is determined to find an insult in everything that 
I write. IVIy feeling towards the people of Edinbuigh is 


324 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

the very opposite of unkind or contemptuous. ... I 
give the best proof of my regard for them by consenting to 
return to public life at their invitation, after repeatedly 
refusing to do so when invited on the most honourable 
and liberal terms by others ; nor shall I cease to wish well 
to your fellow-citizens, or to think highly of their general 
character, even though they should be again estranged 
from me by misrepresentations such as you describe.” 
One of these repeated misrepresentations occurred at 
this time, when it was intimated to him that he could 
be returned for the borough of Finsbury quite free from 
expense. The nomination, poll, and official statement of 
the result in due course came on, and, as on former occa¬ 
sions, the proceedings were disturbed by an excited and 
unruly mob. As was universally expected in Edinburgh, 
Mr. Macaulay's name came first.* Various reports were 
spread about at the time concerning him. According to 
some, it had been arranged that he should stay in the 
neighbourhood of the city, and come forward to the hust¬ 
ings to address the people in the case of his election. 
Contrary to this expectation, he did not come down to 
Edinburgh at all. It was confidently expected that he 
would travel down to Edinburgh all through the night, in 
order to make a speech on the declaration of the poll. 
In this hope the people were disappointed. It was said 
that his friends did not choose that their great and re¬ 
nowned member should be exposed to the almost certain 
chance of insult from the ribald mob. It was seen, how- 

* The numbers were— 

Macaulay . . . .1846 

Cowan. 1753 

M ‘Laren .... 1561 

Bruce.1068 

Campbell .... 625 


JOY EXHIBITED UPON HIS ELECTION. 


325 


ever, that another and unhappily a more powerful reason 
was the cause of his non-appearance. His health was 
very infirm, very different to what it once had been; he 
was afflicted, we believe, with bronchitis, coupled with a 
heart affection. He issued an invitation to the electors, 
requesting them to meet him in a few days* time. It was 
found, however, that the state of his health would not 
allow this, and the occasion was postponed. Anxiety was 
excited by a rumour that suddenly prevailed of his death, 
the origin of which, however, could not be ascertained. 

All over the countrv the news of his election was 

«/ 

received with a burst of joy. Men congratulated each 
other as if some dear friend or relation of their own had 
received so signal an honour. People who had never seen 
his face shook hands with one another in an unreasoning 
way on the receipt of such glorious news. 

ff To the Electors of Edinburgh. 

“ London, July 14, 1852. 

f£ Gentlemen, —At a late hour yesterday evening I 
learned that I was once more your representative. I am 
truly sorry that it is impossible for me to appear before 
you to-day in the High Street, and to give utterance to 
some part of the feelings with which I accept from you a 
trust, honourable in itself, and made doubly honourable by 
the peculiar manner in which it has been offered to me. 

(( On as earlv a day as my health will permit, I shall 
have an opportunity of explaining to you the geneial view 
which I take of public affairs. But on this day, the day 
on which my old connection with you is, after an inter¬ 
ruption of five years, to be solemnly renewed, I will avoid 
every subject which can excite dissention; and I will only 


326 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


assure you that I am proud of your confidence, that I am 
grateful for your kindness, and that the peace, the pro¬ 
sperity, and the renown of your noble city will ever be to 
me objects of affectionate solicitude. 

“I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your faithful 
servant, “ T. B. Macaulay.” 

On the second of November he met the electors in the 
Music Hall. The anxiety to hear him was so intense that 
the large hall was completely crammed, and would doubt¬ 
less have been equally crammed if it had been twice or 
three times as large. It was necessary to admit the 
auditors an hour before the time when Mr. Macaulay 
could be expected to address the meeting. The sup¬ 
porters of Mr. Macaulay and their friends were admitted 
an hour earlier, not to pack a meeting, but as a mark of 
attention which was their strict due. The scene that 
ensued is almost indescribable. There must have been 
very few, and those not to be envied, who could refrain 
from some emotion at the triumphant meeting after so 
deep an estrangement and so long a separation. By the 
heartiness of their greeting was manifested the desire- of 
the people of Edinburgh to efface all that was unhappy in 
the recollections of the past. Mr. Macaulay himself, who 
with a brave heart and in brave language had stoutly 
faced their hostility, was quite unmanned by their kind¬ 
ness, and traces of strong and unconquerable emotion 
were for a brief time visible. It was noticed with regret 
and alarm that while his noble mind retained all its 
vigour, he was not physically the man that he used to be, 
and that at the very moment of his triumph he was the 
victim of severe and perhaps irremediable disease. Thus 
it was he began :— 


LAST SPEECH AT EDINBURGH. 


327 


“ Gentlemen, —I thank you from my heart for this 
kind reception. In truth, it lias almost overcome me. 
Your good opinion and your good will were always very 
valuable to me, far more valuable than any vulgar object 
of ambition; far more valuable than any office, however 
lucrative or dignified. In truth, no office, however lucra¬ 
tive or dignified, would have tempted me to do what I 
have done at your summons, to leave again the happiest 
and most tranquil of all retreats for the bustle of political 
life. But the honour which you have conferred upon me, 
an honour of which the greatest men might well be proud, 
an honour which it is in the power only of a free people 
to bestow, has laid on me such an obligation that I should 
have thought it ingratitude, I should have thought it pusil¬ 
lanimity, not to make at least an effort to serve you. 

“ And here. Gentlemen, we meet again in kindness 
after a long separation. It is more than five years since 
I last stood in this very place; a large part of human life. 
There are few of us on whom those five years have not set 
their mark, few T circles from which those five years have 
not taken away wdiat can never be replaced. Even in this 
multitude of friendly faces I look in vain for some which 
would on this day have been lighted up with joy and kind¬ 
ness. I miss one venerable man, who, before I was born, 
in evil times, in times of oppression and corruption, had 
adhered, with almost solitary fidelity, to the cause of free¬ 
dom, and whom I knew in advanced age, but still in the 
full vigour of mind and body, enjoying the respect and 
gratitude of his fellow-citizens. I should, indeed, be 
most ungrateful if I could, on this day, forget Sir James 
Craig, his public spirit, his judicious counsel, his fatherly 
kindness to myself. And Jeffrey—with what an effusion 
of generous affection he would, on this day, have wel- 


328 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

corned me back to Edinburgh ! He, too, is gone; but the 
remembrance of him is one of the many ties which bind 
me to the city once dear to his heart, and still inseparably 
associated with his fame/’ 

It was with deep emotion that he spoke of Jeffrey. He 
then proceeded to speak of the gaps which time had made 
in the two Houses of Parliament. The oracle of the 
House of Lords was gone, the great Duke; and the oracle 
of the House of Commons, Sir Robert Peel. He spoke 
of their old conflicts, of Sir Robertas last days and his 
best, and of the happiness in reflecting upon the proofs of 
kindness which he had received from him only a few days 
before his death. He then proceeded to review the pre¬ 
sent state of political parties; and here the inveterate 
habits of the confirmed politician at once came into play. 
The grand historic style was at once abandoned for acute 
recrimination and the old party zeal. He gave the 
Derbyite party distinctly to understand that it was little 
mercy which they might expect to receive from him. He 
charged them with inconsistency. He made his hearers 
merry about Lord Maidstone^s Free Trade hexameters; 
he ridiculed the Conservative schemes about the suffrage. 
He had intended to touch upon a variety of other topics, 
but his strength was exhausted; he was obliged to draw 
his remarks to an abrupt conclusion, thanking them from 
the bottom of his heart for the kindness with which he 
had been received. 

Mr. Macaulay was now once more in Parliament, and the 
course he would there adopt became a subject of vivid and 
general interest. His moral weight in the House would 
be very great. No other constituency, so highly im¬ 
portant, was represented on so honourable a tenure. It 
was well known that he was superior to all temptations of 


MR. MACAULAY IS UP. 


329 


place and power. lie possessed a reputation remarkable 
even among English statesmen for its unsullied brilliancy. 
People wondered upon what great occasion they might 
expect a great oration. It so happened that he first spoke 
on an occasion and at a time when it had not been at all 
expected. And yet it would not have been so difficult to 
guess that he would have spoken on the occasion that he 
did. A question of some constitutional importance was 
at stake. It was an occasion on which, as a renowned 
constitutional writer, he might be expected to speak. 
Lord Hotham had brought in a bill which would have 
the effect of taking away from the Master of the Polls 
the poAver of sitting, if elected, in parliament. The Bill 
had reached the stage of the third reading, and there 
appeared to be very little doubt as to its passing. But 
if before Macaulay’s speech the success of the Bill was un¬ 
doubted, this success became a simple impossibility after he 
had spoken. His single voice at once determined its fate. 
Lord Hotham in vain attempted to stem the tide; and 
the very attempt must have taxed all his manliness. The 
debate came off on a Wednesday, in a thin House, and on 
a question which had attracted very little general atten¬ 
tion. But the neAvs rapidly spread that he Avas speaking. 
The House gradually became quite full: the attention was 
breathless, the applause unbounded, the effect decided. 
The following is a graphic description of the scene, taken 
from a defunct paper, The Leader , Avritten, I am told, by 
the late Mr. Whitty, who possessed a considerable repu¬ 
tation for abilities in this kind of sketch ; 

“ It was pleasanter talking on Wednesday, Avhen the 
position of Mr. Macaulay in Great Britain was measured 
in a great Avay. On a Wednesday the House and the 
Committees are sitting at once, and the building is filled 


330 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


with scattered M.P.’s, some at work, many looking at 
those at work, but most loitering about the lobbies and 
corridors picking up old acquaintance, and feeling for 
public opinion. About three on Wednesday one was 
loitering about, too; for the talk in the House was not 
interesting—on a Wednesday it seldom is—and one could 
pick up members* opinion, which is as important as public 
opinion. You were walking along the Committee lobby, 
wondering which c room* you would take next, when, as 
you paused uncertain, you were bumped up against by 
somebody. He begged your pardon, and rushed on, and 
you looked to see who it was; a member, a stout 
member; a man you couldn*t conceive in a run; and 
yet lie*s running like mad. You are still staring at him, 
when two more men trot past you, one on each side, and 
they are members, too. You are very puzzled, and see 
the door close to you— f Members* Entrance,’ above it— 
dashed open, five members dash from it, and plunge 
furiously down the lobby. Why, what can be the matter ? 
More doors open, more members rush out; members are 
tearing past you from all points in one direction towards 
the House. Then wigs and gowns appear. They tell 
you, with happy faces, their Committees have adjourned; 
and then come a third class, the gentlemen of the press, 
hilarious. Why, what’s the matter ? Matter ! Macaulay 
is up, and all the members are off to hear him. You join 
the runners in a moment, and are in the gallery to see 
the senators who had the start of you perspiring into their 
places. It was an announcement one hadn*t heard for 
years; and the passing the word ‘ Macaulay*s up,’ emptied 
Committee rooms. Now, as of old, it emptied clubs. It 
was true; he was up, and in for a long speech; not a 
mere spurt, but an oration. He was in a new place. 


EFFECTS OF HIS SPEECH. 


331 


standing in the second row (above the Treasury Bench) 
from the table, and looking and sounding all the better 
for the elevation and the clearer atmosphere for orators, 
which must be found in that little remove from the green 
boxes. The old voice, the old manners, and the old style— 
glorious speaking ! Well prepared, carefully elaborated, 
confessedly essayish; but spoken with perfect art and 
consummate management, not up-and-down see-saw talk¬ 
ing off a speech, but the grand conversation of a man 
of the world, confiding his learning, his recollections, and 
his logic to a party of gentlemen, and just raising his 
voice enough to be heard through the room. That is as 
you heard him when you got in; but then he was only 
opening, and waiting for his audience. As the House 
filled, which it did with marvellous rapidity, he got 
prouder and more oratorical; and then he poured out his 
speech with rapidity, increasing after every sentence, till 
it became a torrent of the richest words, carrying his 
hearers with him into enthusiasm (yes, for dry as the 
subject was, he gave it grandeur by looking at it from the 
grand and historical point of view), and yet not leaving 
them time to cheer. A torrent of words—that is the only 
description of Macaulay’s style when he has warmed into 
speed. And such words. Why it wasn’t four o’clock in 
the afternoon, lunch hardly digested, and yet the quiet, 
reserved English gentlemen collected there to hear the 
celebrated orator were as wild with delight as an Opera 
house after Grisi at ten. You doubt it ? See the divi¬ 
sion ; and before Mr. Macaulay had spoken you might 
have safely have bet fifty to one that Lord Hotham would 
have carried his Bill. After that speech the Bill was not 
thrown, but pitched out. Speeches seldom do affect 
measures; and yet this speech will have altered British 


33:2 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


policy on a great question; and don’t forget, that on a 
Wednesday, in a day sitting ! People said when it was 
over that it was superb, and so on; and one began to 
have a higher opinion of the House of Commons, though 
it is queerly ‘ led/ seeing that if the Macaulay class of 
minds would bid for leadership they would get it; and 
that perhaps the Lord Johns only get it at present by a 
sort of moral justice because they work for it. But it 
wasn’t all congratulation. Mr. Macaulay had rushed 
through his oration of forty minutes with masterly vigour; 
and looking at his massive chest and enormous head you 
couldn’t be surprised. That is the sort of man who 
would go through whatever he undertook. Yet the 
doubts about his health, which arise when we meet him 
in the street (he never meets anybody)—when you take 
advantage of his sphinx-like reverie, 

‘ Staring riglit on with calm, eternal eyes,’ 

to study the sickly face—would be confirmed by a close 
inspection on Wednesday. The great orator was trem¬ 
bling when he sat down; the excitement of a triumph— 
the massive head notwithstanding—overcame him; and 
he had scarcely the self-possession to acknowledge the 
eager praises which were offered by the Ministers and 
others in his neighbourhood. Evidently he had reasons 
for being as quiet as Gibbon was in the House; and in 
this case, too, no doubt, we must think enough will have 
been done for fame and for our pleasure if the history is 
finished.” 

The subject was one on which he could speak with an 
air of authority. That he told the House that it was 
scarcely creditable to it that a Bill for which so little could 
be said, and against which so much could be said, should 


FROM PARTY TO MANKIND. 


333 


be allowed to reach its present stage. He recommended 
that there should be a still larger infusion of Judges in 
the House. He concluded thus :— 

“ But whether the more extended change which I 
recommend shall be adopted or not, I can see no reason 
whatever for entertaining the Bill of the noble lord. I 
ask the Conservatives on that side of the House, whether 
they are prepared to make a change in the law which has 
lasted for twenty generations, and from which they cannot 
themselves say that the smallest inconvenience has arisen. 
I address myself to the Liberal members of the House. 
I would ask them whether they think it right to lower 
the character and diminish the efficiency of that branch 
of the Legislature which springs from the people. And, 
sir, uniting in myself the character of Liberal and Con¬ 
servative, I do in both characters give my vote most 
cordially for the amendment of my honourable friend.” 

On this memorable occasion Mr. Macaulay called him¬ 
self a Conservative. It was an expression which the 
Conservatives did not fail to criticise. It was rather late 
in the day, they said, for so inveterate a Whig to arrogate 
for himself any part or lot in the Conservative section 
of the country. Let Mr. Macaulay be consistent, and 
adhere to the orange colour till the last. I confess this 
is not my feeling. It is with peculiar pleasure that I 
dwell upon this expression. It is to me a sign that he 
was beginning to feel that it was something higher and 
better to be the favourite of England than to be the 
favourite of the Whigs. He was beginning to emancipate 
himself from the powerful and natural ties of parties, 
friendship, gratitude, and sympathy, and to seek rather 
for the abstract truth and justice. Henceforth the admi¬ 
nistrations of Peel and Palmerston would be to him as 


331 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

historic as those of Pitt and Pelham. Henceforth he 
would administer pure and unperverted justice to all the 
great men who should he called before the historic bar. 

He spoke again the same session on India: this also 
being a subject on which he was peculiarly entitled to 
speak. He spoke with all his old liberal feelings towards 
the Hindoos :— 

et I am at a loss to understand how, while utterly 
contemning education when it is given to Europeans, we 
should regard it with dread when it is given to natives. 
This training, we are told, when given to a European, 
makes him a bookworm, a twaddler, unfit for active life; 
but give the same education to the Hindoo, and he is to 
acquire such an accession of intellect, that an established 
government, 50,000 soldiers, and the whole army and 
navy of England are to go down before its irresistible 
power. I do not pretend to explain how the knowledge 
which is power in one race can be absolutely impotent in 
another; but I can only say for myself, with regard to 
this question, that, in my opinion, we shall not secure or 
prolong our dominion in India by attempting to exclude 
the natives of that country from a share in its govern¬ 
ment, or by attempting to discourage their study of 
western learning; and I will only say further, that how¬ 
ever that may be, I will never consent to keep them 
ignorant in order to keep them manageable, or to govern 
them in ignorance in order to govern them long.” 

These were noble words, and they were the last words 
which he would ever speak in the British House of 
Commons. The state of his health was such, that he 
w r as now convinced that he could never more take an 
efficient part in the House. His strength was inadequate 
for late hours and long speeches. And at the time that 


FAREWELL LETTER TO HIS CONSTITUENTS. 


335 


lie could not attend the House, he wrote to Mr. Black: 
“ The feeling that I ought not to be in the House of Com¬ 
mons preys upon my mind. I think that I am acting un¬ 
generously and ungratefully to a constituent body which 
has been most indulgent to me.” He felt convinced that 
his public life was over. Owing to many urgent solici¬ 
tations, he continued to attend a little longer than had 
been his wish; but at length he forbore all further 
attempts to do so, and severed his connection with 
Edinburgh by the following letter :— 


“ To the Electors of Edinburgh . 

“ Gentlemen. —Very soon after you had done me the 
high honour of choosing me, without any solicitation on 
my part, to represent you in the present Parliament, I 
began to entertain apprehensions that the state of my 
health would make it impossible for me to repay your 
kindness by efficient service. During some time I flat¬ 
tered myself with the hope that I might be able to be 
present at important divisions, and occasionally to take 
part in important debates. But the experience of the last 
two years has convinced me that I cannot reasonably 
expect to be ever again capable of performing, even in an 
imperfect manner, those duties which the public has a 
right to expect from every member of the House of 
Commons. 

“You meanwhile have borne with me in a manner 
which entitles you to my warmest gratitude. Had even 
a small number of my constituents hinted to me a wish 
that I would vacate my seat, I should have thought it my 
duty to comply with that wish. But from not one single 
elector have I ever received a line of reproach or com- 


336 THE PUBLIC LIFE 'OF LORD MACAULAY. 

plaint. If I were disposed to abuse your generosity and 
delicacy, I might perhaps continue to bear the honourable 
title of member for Edinburgh till the dissolution of the 
Parliament; but I feel that by trespassing longer on your 
indulgence I should prove myself unworthy of it. I have 
therefore determined to dissolve our connection, and to 
put it in your power to choose a better servant than I 
have been. 

“ I have applied to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for 
the Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds; and I have 
every reason to believe that the new writ will issue on 
the first day of the approaching session. This notice 
will, I trust, be long enough to enable you to make a 
thoroughly satisfactory choice. 

“ And now, my friends, with sincere thanks for all your 
kindness, and with fervent wishes for the peace, honour, 
and prosperity of your noble city, I for the last time bid 
you farewell. 

“ T. B. Macaulay.” 

“London, January 19, 1856.” 

Here, a little in advance of chronological order, we may 
fittingly glance at Macaulay’s final public appearance in 
that town where he had achieved his first youthful orato- 
racal triumphs. In doing so, we have to recognise him 
in the enjoyment of a dignity for his elevation to which 
we have not yet historically accounted. We may project 
ourselves into something like the feeling in reference to 
Lord Macaulay, which Tennyson has so exquisitely ex¬ 
pressed with regard to the lamented Arthur Hallam. 

I past beside the reverend walls, 

In which of old I wore the gown ; 

I roved at random through the town, 

And saw the tumult of the halls. 


HIGH STEWARDSHIP OF CAMBRIDGE. 


337 


And heard once more in college fanes 
The storm their high-built organs make, 

And thunder-music, rolling, shake 

The prophets blazoned on the panes. 

* * * * 

Where once we held debate, a band 
Of youthful friends, on mind and art, 

And labour, and the changing mart, 

And all the framework of the land ; 

When one would aim an arrow fair, 

But send it slackly from the string ; 

And one would pierce an outer ring, 

And one an inner, here and there ; 

And last the master-bowman, he 

Would cleave the mark. A willing ear 
We lent him. Who, but hung to hear 

The rapt oration flowing free 

From point to point, with power and grace, 

And music in the bounds of law, 

To those conclusions when we saw 

The God within him light his face. 

By the demise of Earl Fitzwilliam in October, 1857, the 
High Stewardship of the Borough of Cambridge was 
rendered vacant; and was offered, by the unanimous vote 
of the Town Council, to Lord Macaulay. He accepted; 
and his appointment to the office was signalised by the 
approbation alike of his political friends and foes, on the 
broad and liberal ground of his commanding literary 
eminence. 

In the presence of a crowded and enthusiastic meeting, 
convened on the 11th May, 1858, after the oaths had 
been duly administered, the Mayor presented the patent 
of Lord Macaulay’s appointment, engrossed on vellum, 
illuminated, signed with the corporate seal, and bound in 
red morocco, and said— 

“ My Lord,—On behalf of myself and the Corporation, 

z 


338 THE PUBLIC LIFE OP LOED MACAULAY. 


I beg to congratulate both you and ourselves on your 
appointment as High Steward of this Borough. I con¬ 
gratulate you upon having to succeed men whose names 
are illustrious in history; and ourselves, because I consider 
it an honour to the Borough to have so distinguished a 
nobleman as yourself as its officer. (Cheers.)” 

Lord Macaulay, who was evidently suffering from ill- 
health, and whose voice was scarcely audible, then replied 
in the following terms :— 

“ It is in but few words, Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, 
that I can address you at present. My health will enable 
me to speak but few sentences here or elsewhere; and as 
I am told it will be necessary for me to say something in 
another place, I shall reserve my strength for that occa¬ 
sion. I will at present only beg you to believe that I 
accept with the greatest gratitude and respect this mark 
of kindness bestowed upon me by so large and respectable 
a body of my countrymen, and I assure you that I shall 
always wish earnestly the prosperity and peace of the town 
of Cambridge. (Loud applause.)” 

The formal proceedings were thus terminated, and the 
Members of the Council with Lord Macaulay adjourned 
to the Assembly Room. 

At the banquet which celebrated the Inauguration, after 
the usual loyal toasts had been honoured, the Mayor, in 
a speech of heartiness and eulogy, proposed “ The Health 
of the High Steward of the Borough.” 

This having been received with continued applause, 
Lord Macaulay, amidst renewed cheers, rose to reply. 
He said— 

“ Mr. Mayor—It is not easy to return an answer to so 
graceful, but at the same time I must say so unmerited, 
an eulogium as that which your kindness has led you to 


THE HIGH STEWARD RETURNS THANKS. 


830 


pronounce upon me. I thank you cordially ; I thank also 
the gentlemen present for the feelings they have evinced 
towards me. To some here present I have reason for 
especial gratitude; I have to thank some gentlemen pre¬ 
sent for having conferred upon me that distinguished 
office into which I was this morning installed. I assure 
you I feel it a great honour which you have conferred 
upon me. I doubt whether there has been any municipal 
situation in this country that has ever been held by such 
a succession of celebrated men as the office of High 
Steward of your Borough — men eminently great in 
politics, distinguished in arms, intelligence, and merit. 
It is no false modesty on my part to say, that I feel that 
my name is unworthy to be classed in the same list with 
them; yet I most cordially thank you for having placed it 
there. It cannot be otherwise than very gratifying to a 
public man, whose life has been passed in the varied 
changes and disruptions of political strife, whose fate it 
has often been to be misunderstood, and frequently 
calumniated, though his conscience still tells him that he 
has never stooped to seek popularity by unworthy acts, 
or flatter the nation which it was his duty to serve 
uprightly—it is gratifying, I say, to find that he carries 
with him into retirement the esteem and good will of 
large and respectable bodies of his countrymen to whom 
he was personally unknown. You will not believe this 
the less, or regard my thanks as the less sincere, because 
uttered in very few words; there was a time when I could 
have commanded a hearing in much larger and stormier 
assemblies—(cheers)—but that time is passed; and I feel 
that if I can now do anything to serve my country, it will 
be best done in the quiet retirement of my own library. 
It is now five years since I raised my voice in public, and 


340 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOKD MACAULAY. 


it is not likely—unless there be some special call of duty 
—tliat I shall ever raise it in public again. I trust, how¬ 
ever, that you will believe that, if these are the last words 
I shall ever utter in public, I intend them to express that 
I shall ever retain a grateful recollection of your kindness, 
and my earnest wish that the town of Cambridge may 
flourish peaceful and prosperous, and in a spirit of 
unanimity with that noble University which I must ever 
regard with filial gratitude and love.” 

Lord Macaulay sat down amid deafening applause. 


CHAPTER XI. 


LORD MACAULAY OF ROTHLEY. 

In 1857 tlie dignity of the peerage was, by the Queen’s 
permission, offered by Lord Palmerston to Mr. Macaulay. 
Such a contingency had been unexpected by himself and 
also by the public. With his usual good sense, Mr. 
Macaulay at once decided upon accepting the proffered 
honour. Although an advanced Liberal in his views, he 
was not of the number of those who habitually sneer at 
the peerage as an institution, at the same time that it is 
the secret and eager object of their ambition. Neither 
directly nor indirectly had he sought the honour. It 
must have been felt that if the peerage was some honour 
to him he was a still greater honour to the peerage. It 
was the highest social distinction ever yet accorded to a 
literary man, and literary men were highly pleased with 
it. Mr. Macaulay would, at any rate, be safe from all 
further fluctuations of the aura popular is. A seat in the 
legislature would be assured to him for life, independent 
of all changes, and those in his health were the most to 
be feared. It was to be hoped that in the long mellow 
sunset of his days he might give to expectant England 
volume after volume of his national work, and that he 
might, from time to time, take part in the lighter labours 
and debates of the House of Lords; that he might help 
to guide our country by his wisdom and experience, and 


342 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOKD MACAULAY. 

adorn onr literature, as heretofore, by his speeches and 
his writings. It would have been with great and peculiar 
pleasure that men would have followed their old favourite 
in an illustrious career in the House of Lords. But 
however legitimate and pleasant these speculations might 
be, they were doomed to disappointment. 

In the Upper House he never spoke in debates. Once 
or twice he intended to do so, but from circumstances he 
never did. With his election to the peerage, and his ap¬ 
pointment, nearly at the same time, to the office of High 
Steward of the town of Cambridge, the career of Lord 
Macaulay as a public man ends. At this point our survey 
of his career should properly terminate, but we would 
desire to add a review, necessarily brief and imperfect, of 
that public life which we have been considering. 

We first turn to his Parliamentary career. Of the 
remarkable consistency, integrity, and independence which 
he exhibited, without a single deviation, we have already 
spoken, and it would be difficult to speak too highly. The 
merit of political consistency may, however, be probably 
overrated. Few public men have passed through a long 
Parliamentary career without having much to retract and 
something to repent. But Lord Macaulay’s words of 
retractation or repentance are very few and very light. 
Even if he had done so his disposition was such that he 
would most probably have repented his repentance and 
have retracted his retractations. 

If his consistency had been exhibited in a consistent 
adherence to politics as the business of his life, there is no 
altitude to which he might not have attained. At the 
time of the Beform Bill he aroused a wonderful enthu¬ 
siasm in his favour both within and out of the House, and 
he appeared not at all unlikely to become one of the 


EARLY PARLIAMENTARY PROMISE. 


343 


popular leaders. In his departure for India was virtually 
involved the resignation of his claim as a political chief. 
He completely abdicated any chance he possessed—and at 
this time it appears not to have been an inconsiderable one 
—of becoming Prime Minister. His Parliamentary career 
of four years had been fruitful of such great successes and 
brilliant with such splendid hopes, that if he had per¬ 
severed in this career probably only the very highest 
advancement would have been the goal of his ambition 
and his genins. Not Canning nor Peel, not Gladstone 
nor Disraeli, appear in the early part of their Parlia¬ 
mentary career to have distinguished themselves more 
highly, to have attracted greater attention, or raised 
higher expectations. It was certainly a great difficulty in 
his way, and he probably felt it to be an insuperable one, 
that he was not one of those statesmen who are endowed 
with what is called a stake in the country. As repre¬ 
senting in a rough, coarse, monetary form that patriotism 
which it would be difficult precisely to define or accurately 
attribute to a man, the phrase may have its value and 
current worth. A difficulty, however, which neither Mr. 
Canning nor Mr. Disraeli found insuperable might have 
been conquered by Mr. Macaulay, certainly their inferior 
neither in character nor abilities. In the hope of removing 
himself from the necessity of employing either speech or 
pen for subsistence, the Member for Leeds vacated his 
position as a popular leader for a seat at the India 
Council. A French writer, in the new edition of the 
Biographie Universelle, states the case thus—“ L'enorme 
traitement auquel ses nouvelles fonctions lui donnaient droit 
par ait avoir ete le principal motif qui lui fit momentanement 
abandonner une carriere ou il avait conquis une si grande 
reputation/’ If lie went to India he would at once be 


344 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 


placed in a position which only the luckiest servant of the 
Company, after ten years* hard service, could hope to 
occupy. The old tradition of the nabob, which in the 
modern course of things had become nearly obsolete, 
would be partially revived in his case. Having gone out 
comparatively poor, in a few years he might return com¬ 
paratively rich. His improved position would give him 
improved advantages for a political career. In seeking, 
however, the means for the end, it does not appear to have 
occurred to him that he might lose the end itself. It 
certainly seems that his Parliamentary reputation after his 
return from India scarcely corresponded to the reputation 
which he had acquired previous to his leaving this country. 
In Calcutta he was left more to the companionship of his 
books and his thoughts than would have been the case in 
London. This seems to have determined the doubtful 
scales, and have given a bias to literature over politics—to 
have increased his powers as a great writer, and to have 
diminished his chances as a great orator. 

Whether Macaulay is justly entitled to the appellation 
of a great orator is a question which has been discussed, 
and generally and justly answered in the affirmative. But 
whatever praise belongs to him in this direction belongs 
with especial emphasis to that earlier part of his career. 
The main objection is that he could not make a reply, and 
could not at the moment venture on a long address. This 
argument is by no means final. A great orator is such by 
means of his great orations, as a great painter is such by 
reason of his great pictures. A great painter is none the 
less so if he is unable to fling off a caricature, and declines 
to make a hasty sketch. And if Mr. Macaulay declined to 
put a great reputation to the hazard of a sudden speech, 
and preferred the reputation of a great orator to the repu- 


OEATOEY AND DEBATE. 


345 


tation of a skilful and adroit debater, lie seems to have 
acted wisely, and to liave set an example which it is 
earnestly to be desired that more of our legislators would 
seek to follow. 

Few take up the volumes of Hansard, or look down the 
columns of debate; and although these belong to the most 
momentous epochs of our history, who is there who for the 
purpose of instruction and delight greatly cares to turn to 
them, though the most accessible and the most popular of 
our national archives ? There are not many even among 
cultivated men who are students of our Parliamentary 
debates. They are chiefly sought for a temporary pur¬ 
pose, to confound a rival statesman, or to blast a political 
reputation. The speeches which are spoken to a crowded 
senate, which are spread over a page of the morning 
papers, which are wafted to the extremities of the empire 
or of the world, die in their birth, and their first breath is 
almost their last. To separate a great speech from the 
concomitant debate, and to study it quietly at a distance 
from the influences of the time, reminds us of the old 
imagery of entering a banquet-liall which the banqueters 
have left, and to find ourselves in the unfamiliar and 
repellant scene of faded flowers, and silenced music, and 
vanished forms. The verbiage of debate seems so much 
glittering tinsel, which is not often relieved by the pure 
gold of knowledge, or by the gems of thought. It is 
likely indefinitely to iujure the reputation of the English 
Parliament, that so few of the great efforts it has witnessed 
have attained to the rank of classic writings. 

But Macaulay’s speeches were in the best sense ora¬ 
tions : they compare not disadvantageously with his pub¬ 
lished works ; they are already classic; and, unless I am 
mistaken, the course of time will indefinitely increase 


316 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

their value. Dealing with the events of the hour, they 
rise above the occasion, and are susceptible of being 
always studied with advantage, on account of their ele¬ 
ments of permanent value. History is philosophy teach¬ 
ing by examples, and we have here the application of the 
philosophy of history to the passing examples of the times. 
The speeches are always susceptible of being separated 
from their context, and of being read with delight, on 
account of the large general view they take, as well as for 
their information, eloquence, strength of reasoning, and 
gorgeous rhetoric. The influence which these speeches 
possessed over the House at the time of their delivery 
was very extraordinary. His speech of to-night has been 
answered a week afterwards, and the speech of one session 
has even been answered in another. When he had spoken 
a new turn seemed to be given to the course of the debate. 
Members fell into the track which he had marked out for 
them. In very many subsequent speeches there is a vein 
of allusion to his, either in the way of confirmation or 
contradiction. Such facts attest the power of his oratory 
in the house; and out of the house, where speeches are 
more read and judged upon according to their intrinsic 
merit, none could be more read and studied than his. 

In a sort of vague popular way it has been customary 
to call him a statesman, but in strict accuracy such a title 
can hardly have been assigned to him. For a short time 
only was he a Minister of the Crown, during the Mel¬ 
bourne administration, and for a time still shorter, during 
the administration of Lord John Russell. In these offices 
the man of letters was oddly enough concerned with the 
army as Secretary at War and Paymaster-General of the 
Forces. He did not do much beyond bringing forward 
the Estimates, on which occasion the figures of speech were 


POSITION AS A STATESMAN. 


347 


quite unenlivened by tlie figures of rhetoric. He did not 
avail himself of his opportunities as a Minister of the 
Crown to originate any novel or useful measures. Lord 
Herbert, who held subsequently the same office, showed 
himself a great war minister, and indicated how much 
might be done in this department of the State. No one 
would for a moment compare Lord Macaulay at the War 
Office with Lord Herbert at the War Office: such a com¬ 
parison would hardly fail to elicit a smile. In fact, these 
high dignities were scarcely more than a titular passport 
to the Cabinet, or a splendid retaining fee on the side of 
the Administration. His claims as a statesman must be 
based upon his career in Parliament and his legislative 
measures in India. I think it will be found that his mind 
was quick to perceive and slow to originate; that in Par¬ 
liament he generally followed in the wake of his party, 
and in India in the wake of precedent. In no case 
blindly, but under the informing guidance of a clear judg¬ 
ment and a clear conscience; that his learning, acuteness, 
and admirable good sense, peculiarly fitted him to sift a 
question thoroughly, and examine it in all its bearings; 
that he was safe rather than bold, practical rather than 
original; that his was not the cast of mind that creates 
the great minister of a great State, and that intellect so 
far preponderates beyond any moral faculty as to unfit 
him to become a leader of men. At least, this is the 
impression produced by his later Parliamentary career. 
The Essays are the works on which Lord Macaulay’s 
reputation will perhaps ultimately depend. He is the 
prince of essayists. He is not only in the first class, but 
he is the very first of the first class. They are the noblest 
gallery of the kind which any literature contains. It is 
to be regretted that for nearly twenty years they formed 


348 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

the staple of his productions, and threw the production 
of the magnum opus so far back. The first volume of the 
History did not appear till his fiftieth year—a late date 
for a history intended to be spread over many volumes, 
and to be brought down to a time within the memory 
of men still living. Each successive Essay was a splendid 
€ 7 ri 8 ei£ts of his abilities for a great work, and increased 
the regret that a great work should be so long delayed. 
But in perusing Lord Macaulay’s highly-wrought and 
declamatory page in which a controversial tone is so often 
adopted, the reader ought to recollect that he is dealing 
with only one side of the question, that another side 
remains to be stated; and that we ought to be acquainted 
with it before we can be sure that our decision is accurate 
and impartial. In one or two cases Lord Macaulay 
withdrew or modified the extreme statements prompted 
by his natural vehemence. Probably, however, this ought 
to have happened in some further instances. I had 
wished to discuss several of the Essays, but must confine 
myself to a brief mention of two. The review of Croker’s 
Boswell appears to me an unhappy and unjustifiable 
instance of the introduction of political asperity into the 
calm regions of literature. It is said that in India the 
plough might once wend its way between contending 
armies; and so literature ought to be safe from the 
assaults of political rivals. When a keen politician 
treats of a purely literary subject of universal interest, 
then it is ungenerous and unbecoming to criticise him 
with the violence of political dislike. It is to be regretted 
that Mr. Croker afterwards followed so unfortunate a 
precedent, more especially on his own account, since, to 
use Mr. Bogers’s well-known remark on his celebrated 
review of the History, he meant murder, but committed 


SIR ELIJAH IMPEY DEFENDED. 


349 


suicide. Those who are familiar with the savage attack 
on Croker in the opening of the article, should make 
themselves acquainted with the refutation that appeared 
in Blackwood , and was afterwards republished as a pam¬ 
phlet by Mr. Murray. The majority of the imputations 
against Mr. Croker appear to be satisfactorily explained 
away. Another one which ought perhaps to be mentioned 
occurs in the article on Warren Hastings. Nothing can 
be more dramatic and effective than the way in which 
Sir Elijah Impey’s sentence on Nuncomar is introduced, 
and the condemnation which the reviewer passes on the 
conduct of the judge. It appears that the truthfulness of 
the portrait of Impey is seriously arraigned. Thus writes 
one of his sons :— 

“We were all most deeply attached to his memory, 
and deeply wounded by its desecration. Though not 
altogether unknown in the world, it is just possible that 
the reviewer knew nothing of our existence; but it is 
highly probable that he would not have deranged the 
symmetry of a single sentence, once constructed, to save 
five affectionate hearts from anguish. I abstain as much 
as possible from mixing up the sanctity of domestic 
sorrow with resentment of a public wrong; but if there 
be a slanderer base enough to find pleasure and triumph 
in having tortured the feelings of delicate and sensitive 
women, aged and honourable men, he may take my 
assurance for the fact, that these calumnies have not only 
embittered the remnants of life, but mingled with the 
sharpness of death.” 

Natural expressions of wounded feeling, oi course, 
possess no value as evidence or argument; but Sir Elijah's 
son has published an important volume in vindication of 
his father’s memory, which has gained for his pious cause 


350 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

tlie suffrages of one or two writers on Indian subjects, 
whose opinions are entitled to great weight. The volume 
is based upon a most thorough examination, aided by 
Government, of all the documents and State papers likely 
to throw light on the subject, and it is worthy of a greater 
degree of attention than it seems to have received. I 
regret that I Lave been prevented from giving the subject 
that careful study which would justify an opinion, but it 
is right that this protest should be mentioned; and I 
should imagine that it would not be difficult to arrive at 
a conclusion respecting its value. “ Bring me my liar,” 
Charles Y. used to say when he called for a history. And 
it is a mortifying reflection that the bar of history is after 
all as fallible as any other earthly tribunal. 

It is not within the compass of our design to discuss 
the Histoy'y, but any work relating to Lord Macaulay would 
be most incomplete that refrained from mentioning it. 
Unfortunately, the work is scarcely so far finished as really 
to entitle it to the appellation of a history of England. 
The last volume was only published since his decease. 

Lord Macaulay’s History of England .* 

“ The standing orders of criticism were of necessity 
suspended when the final volume of Lord Macaulay’s 
History was published. As a noble fragment, possessing 
the beauty and strength that indicates the genius of the 
original design, these pages would have their own proper 
value. But the chief interest is personal to the author. 
As we read the story of kings and statesmen, our thoughts 
evermore revert to the eloquent dead gathered to the 
kindred dust of the great Abbey, where he and they are 

* The History of England, from the Accession of James II. By Lord 
Macaulay. Yol. Y. (Longman & Co.) 


THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 


351 


now contemporaries together. We are witnessing the last 
sketches of the great artist; we are listening to the final 
tones of the great orator. At this point it was that the 
firm and cunning hand shook, became paralyzed, became 
lifeless; at this point it was that the clear, rich voice 
quivered, for a moment went on, and was then silenced 
for ever. If these pages had abounded with intimations 
of declining powers, had there been less force in the racy 
epithet, less brilliancy in the rapid sketch, less eloquence 
in the energetic argument, the public would still have 
given them a greeting of welcome and affection. But the 
wing is poised with equal vigour, though it proved to be 
for an unequal flight. The pen is assumed with all the 
old heartiness, although it is so soon to fall from the re¬ 
laxing grasp. The historian, cheered by his country’s 
interest and applause, pursues his course with eye un¬ 
dimmed and with natural force unabated. 

“ Lady Trevelyan, with some difficulty, deciphered the 
account of William’s death, which appropriately enough 
concludes the volume. These few pages, at the first blush, 
give the volumes an apparent completeness which they are 
in reality very far from possessing. Comparing the large 
sections of events omitted with those detailed, it is 
probable that if completed in accordance with the author’s 
design, the period would have occupied at least an ordinary 
volume. The persecution of his great favourite Somers, 
the death of the King of Spain, and the altered aspect of 
European politics, for instance, are subjects in which the 
historian would have especially delighted, and which 
would have given him abundant scope. From the re¬ 
markable absence of foot-notes throughout the volume, it 
is not improbable that the whole was yet reserved for some 
final touches. In the last few pages we are admitted into 


352 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 

the great painter's studio. The death of William is de¬ 
scribed in the simplest, almost in bare language. It is 
the original outline, to which almost every accessory is 
wanting. We thus gain some idea of the minute care 
with which the other volumes were elaborated and 
finished, and also of how much we are deprived in the 
scanty volume before us. The illness, death, and funeral 
of Queen Mary, in the fourth volume, show us the con¬ 
summate care and art which he would have lavished on 
these final memorials of his great hero. We should have 
had a masterly summary of William's achievements : we 
should have had a profound and eloquent view of his 
character; we should have had a noble peroration to the 
whole five volumes, which are, indeed, in one point of 
view, an epic in honour of William. It must be re¬ 
membered that nearly five years elapsed between the 
appearance of the third and fourth volumes and the great 
historian’s lamented decease. It cannot be doubted but 
the present reliquary pages are a very disappointing result 
for five years, and do, in fact, very inadequately represent 
the amount of care and attention which Lord Macaulay 
devoted to his national theme. 

“ Two reasons might be given for this, and for each 
there is probably substantial grounds. One is to be 
sought in the peculiarities of Lord Macaulay's mental 
constitution. Lord Macaulay’s memory was remarkably 
retentive; it was a memory that was itself a moral and an 
intellectual phenomenon. This is most apparent in his 
speeches. Some of those speeches exhibit the very highest 
degree of literary finish. They are not inferior to those 
perorations which great orators have written out a dozen 
times, and which had received multiplied improvements. 
Yet Lord Macaulay told Sir Bulwer Lytton that he never 


THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 


353 


committed any of liis contemplated speeches to paper. 
He considered that by so doing he should be injuring the 
oratorical flow of his speech. His wonderful memory 
enabled him to retain every correction, and recollect 
accurately the ipsissima verba of the carefully meditated 
harangue. In fact, he wrote, re-wrote, revised and cor¬ 
rected his great speeches, all in his head. It is almost 
certain that Lord Macaulay had many sententice and 
lumina, as the author of the Dialogue on Oratory at¬ 
tributed to Tacitus calls them, which from time to time in 
his great work would have found their appropriate setting. 
Moreover, a considerable portion of the history does, in 
fact, consist of written oratory. A considerable portion of 
it might have been used with matchless effect if any 
debate had arisen in the legislature on cognate consti¬ 
tutional questions. Many pages of wonderful eloquence, 
of description, of pathos, of historical allusions, of clench¬ 
ing arguments, must have been composed and never 
written. He was now approximating to the reign of 
Queen Anne, and we might have safely looked for a 
chapter on the English literature of the era. His opinions 
on the books and writers of that age were well known, 
and had been set forth in the Essays. He was now pre¬ 
pared with his most matured judgments, and would have 
expressed them in the most finished form. He would 
have written them down from recollection, and without an 
effort. Long ago, by a process of mental alchemy, they 
had been moulded into perfection. The daughters of 
wisdom would have come forth in full panoply from the 
brain of Jupiter. 

“ This goes some way, but it does not go far. We are 
afraid that another and a more melancholy reason remains 
behind. For some time Lord Macaulay must have been 


A A 


354 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOED MACAULAY. 

convinced that the task he had undertaken was beyond 
his strength. It required the fresher power of a younger 
man; and though his mind.was as fresh and brilliant as 
ever, his physical power was gradually becoming weaker. 
When he took his pen in hand he wrote with all his 
wonted vigour, but there is little doubt he took the pen 
in hand comparatively seldom. The enforced relinquish¬ 
ment of his seat in Parliament must have been a monitor 
of impending decay. Years ago he had announced, with 
Thucydidean brevity, f I purpose to write the History of 
England/ and to bring it down ‘ within the memory of 
men yet living/ And now that recorded purpose must 
have seemed a vanitas vanitatum, a memento mori. It 
may indeed be questioned, however early Lord Macaulay 
had commenced his undertaking, whether he could ever 
have completed it on the contemplated scale. He was 
engaged upon an historical painting, where each figure 
was drawn to the size of life. He was engaged upon a 
moving diorama, where nearly a mile of canvas was given 
to a mile of country. It took about a year of his life to 
reproduce a year of his History. So fast as he unravelled 
the threads of time, so fast was the web respun. He was 
overwhelmed by his own resources, and fell by his own 
weight. His work is a most signal instance of the limita¬ 
tion of all human powers. Even the accomplishment of 
the reign of William, which the author himself would 
most earnestly have desiderated, is imperfect. It shows, 
like some antique statue, where the loss of a limb mars, 
while it indicates the perfection of the whole. English¬ 
men can only contemplate with admiring despair a 
gigantic fragment of the literary Titan. 

“ The last volume was scarcely welcomed with the 
tumult of acclaim and expectation which was the lot of 


RECEPTION OF THE HISTORY. 


355 


its happier predecessors; for by some subtle law, on which 
we will not now speculate, an interest attaches to the 
writings of the living author which scarcely belongs to 
the dead classic. This would be the case even if the 
volume were complete, much more so in its present state of 
incompleteness. It is the tritest moral reflection, how 
the world passes on and heeds little and less the great 
ones w r ho have fallen from its ranks. The great charm of, 
Macaulay was his style. The antithesis, allusion, playful 
exaggeration, hearty expression, which periodical writers 
have copied till they have become vulgarised, have all a 
natural though an evanescent charm upon his page. The 
popularity of style, especially when the style is in some 
measure made up of mannerism, though immense for a 
time, scarcely enjoys a lifetime exceeding that of a gene¬ 
ration. There are not wanting reasons which induce us 
to think that the popularity of this style is already on the 
wane. In the last few volumes the attention grows weary 
of the mass of people introduced, with whom we have no 
interest beyond that adventitiously imparted by the rare 
skill of the writer. Moreover, the literary taste is 
becoming less ambitious and less ornate. Rhetoric is 
being looked upon as a mere accomplishment. When 
Gibbon’s Decline and Fall came out, we learn that nothing 
could exceed its popularity. The work was to be found 
on every drawing-room table. All the men discussed it, 
and all the ladies raved about it. The book became f the 
rage.’ Such language would describe very exactly the 
sensation produced by the successive instalments of 
Macaulay’s History. Gibbon’s grand and massive style 
still remains, but the subtle spirit of the hour that per¬ 
meated it has fled. We should like to know how many 
really well-educated men are properly up in their Gibbon. 


356 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

It is one of those books which no gentleman’s library 
ought to he without, to use Charles Lamb's happy 
description, and which no gentleman ever thinks of 
reading. The day will come when only the curious and 
the learned will be diligent students of Macaulay's style, 
and try to discover the secret of the potent spell which 
he exercised over the minds of the men of his own gene¬ 
ration. In the present volume, while describing the 
Duke of Portland's splendid embassy to Paris, Macaulay 
speaks of Papin, Lord Woodstock’s tutor, ‘whose history, 
a century ago, was to be found in every library.' Any 
comparison between the merits of the two historians 
would be simply absurd. Yet the day may come when 
Macaulay may be even as Papin, and the History of 
England as the Decline and Fall. 

“We can almost imagine that there is an improvement 
perceptible in the ethical tone of the present volume. 
The hero of the story is not altogether a hero, nor the 
villain so much of a villain. Some human imperfections 
are admitted in William; some monstrosities of guilt are 
not alleged against Marlborough. The old party leaven, 
though still virulent, is partially subdued. The writer 
still draws on the white gloves at an assize of Whigs, and 
he immediately takes down the black cap when a Tory 
comes up for judgment. Perhaps, however, such analo¬ 
gies are in fault, inasmuch as Macaulay’s forensic and 
biassed mind never permitted his elevation to the judicial 
bench. One of the most remarkable passages of this 
volume, and which we should least have expected from 
the political sympathies of the author, is his denunciation 
of the House of Commons. His language almost reminds 
us of that of Plato respecting the people,—that it is a 
wild beast, whose humours must be studied, lest it tear 


WANT OF THE JUDICIAL ELEMENT. 


357 


us to pieces. The Parliaments well-nigh ruined the 
country. They are to be viewed with the greatest dis¬ 
trust. Mr. Hallam had also on several occasions dis¬ 
cussed the grave apprehensions that may arise from our 
parliamentary government. But somehow, and this is 
strange enough, death seems the pervading burden of the 
volume. One after another of the great personages of 
the era disappears. Taking royalty alone, the King of 
Spain is gone, and James II. is gone, and William him¬ 
self is gone; the young Gloucester, heir to the English 
crown, is gone; and the Bavarian heir to the Spanish 
empire is gone. And almost the final lines have a some¬ 
what ominous tone, when the great historian tells us how 
William r felt his time was short, and grieved, with a grief 
such as noble spirits feel, to think that he must leave his 
work only half finished/ 

Lord Macaulay died at his house, Holly Lodge, Dec. 
21st, and was buried at Westminster Abbey. 


It is out of our province to attempt any criticism either 
of the scope or the detail of the history. Generally 
speaking, it will scarcely escape the reproach that affects 
the whole of Lord Macaulay's literary and political 
career, of being tinged by a strong political bias. He 
does not wear Hallam's spotless ermine, and in reading 
his pages, we fail to feel that a new Chief Justice has 
taken his place on the great bench of historians. On 
matters of detail issue has been joined with him by 
different critics more or less competent. Lord Macaulay's 
knowledge of facts was so extraordinary, and so minute, 
that in any such controversy the chances decidedly are 
that he is correct, and his opponents in the wrong. At 



858 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LOUD MACAULAY. 

the same time a body of adverse criticism exists in 
reference to the History, which is entitled to serious 
consideration. Such writers as the Bishop of Exeter, 
Mr. Lothbury, Mr. Paget, Mr. Dixon, Mr. Babington, 
have brought a series of objections against different por¬ 
tions of the History in which it is difficult to believe 
that there is no substratum of reality. 

It will now be the proper business of the critics to 
examine the respective value of these objections, and to 
decide upon their accumulative weight. I imagine that 
in course of time it will not be difficult for students to 
arrive at a pretty general consensus on these points, or 
such of them at least as may be brought to a distinct 
issue, and decided according to the ordinary principles 
of evidence and argument. 

I should rely upon Lord Macaulay’s statements and 
conclusions, with almost implicit confidence, did it not 
appear to me that there existed in his case an extreme 
unwillingness to own himself in the wrong. Such an 
admission may have been obtained by Earl Stanhope, 
but I am not aware of any other instances. All objec¬ 
tions, indeed, were received with courtesy, and weighed 
with attention. Ou comparing the different editions, it 
will be perceived that slight modifications have occasion¬ 
ally been made. But it is difficult to read considerable 
portions of Mr. Paget’s book (parts of which, however, 
quite fail in sustaining his case), and also the letters of the 
Bishop of Exeter and Mr. Lothbury, without believing 
that modifications much more extensive ought to have 
been introduced. Lord Macaulay particularly excelled in 
dealing with ecclesiastical questions; and yet it is in this 
class of subjects that one has most frequently reason to 
feel dissatisfied. His portraiture of Cranmer for instance 


SHORTCOMINGS AS A CHURCH HISTORIAN. 359 

ought not to be accepted without a comparison of the very 
different portraiture drawn by Mr. Eroude, who is certainly 
not likely to be an interested or bigoted admirer of the 
Archbishop. That view of ecclesiastical history also which 
represents the Church of England as simply a compromise 
between the Church of Rome and the Church of Geneva, 
seems to me to be quite untenable. The idea of com¬ 
promise was quite foreign to the lofty and fierce spirits 
of the sixteenth century. Those who reformed the Church 
of England, were men who would cheerfully have gone to 
the stake or the scaffold, rather than have sacrificed any 
portion of what they held to be God’s truth. Inasmuch 
as our Reformation was effected by moderate men, and 
by wise counsels, inasmuch as it was based upon the 
Divine Word, and the rules of faith and practice of the 
purest ages of the Church, it assumed, as might have 
been expected, very much the appearance of a mean 
between the contending parties ; but this mean was 
attained in obedience to abstract truth, and not according 
to any system of obedience and compromise. I must not, 
however, discuss this class of questions any farther; the 
subject is one very well deserving of separate treatment. 
His estimate of King William the Third will, probably, 
be considered an exaggerated one, and susceptible of very 
considerable abatement. It is to be regretted that the 
champion of Protestantism was an avowed adulterer, and 
that the restorer of English liberties should be the last 
king under whom an Englishman fell by act of attainder. 

It was with a feeling of the utmost painfulness and 
surprise, that a rumour was heard in London one 
December day, that Lord Macaulay was no more. The 
daily papers, with the exception of one of the cheap 
newspapers, gave no intimation of a fact that was with 


360 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


difficulty credited. I believe the statement in the penny 
paper was copied into a second edition of a local paper, 
and through this source the fact came to the know¬ 
ledge of the London Press. A day or two afterwards 
the Times proclaimed the fact to all the world by an 
article on u the Late Lord Macaulay,” written in noble 
and generous language, such as with one exception only, 
was used by all the press. In every company in England 
there was the expression of the same deep and personal 
loss; for by this time men had come to take a national 
pride in their illustrious fellow-countryman, and his great 
work. What was known of his character heightened 
this feeling of esteem. The loss was irreparable. Indeed 
it seemed that not a single but a multiplied loss had 
befallen our country and nation. Not only was the great 
rhapsodist gone, who told the grand epic of English 
history with Homeric energy and fire; but men reported 
that the Prince of Essayists was gone, the statesman, the 
orator, the poet. The departing year that had borne away 
so many of our great writers to their rest, had reserved 
its noblest victim for the last. The lesson of the fragility 
and mutability of all human greatness, was brought home 
to us all, in touching solemnity and reality, by the hie 
jacet of this illustrious author—the passing away from us 
of this majestic mind. In so short a while the purest 
wreaths of fame are lowered in the dust, and the loftiest 
peals of triumph are hushed in the silence of the grave. 

At such a season it was less upon his intellectual great* 
ness than upon his character that thought was fixed. It 
was said in some quarters that he had been a man 
without a heart, and certainly in his own regal indepen¬ 
dence, in his hearty joyous scorn of all pastime and weak¬ 
ness, he sometimes indicted what were deep wounds on 


GENEROSITY OF HIS DISPOSITION. 


361 


sensitive natures, and conveyed a mistaken impression 
concerning himself. But it would seem that Lord 
Macaulay abounded with kind and generous feelings; 
and was a man of a deeply affectionate nature. A very 
large part of his annual income was regularly given away 
with unsparing and charitable hand, and the value of 
these gifts was infinitely enhanced by the grace and sym¬ 
pathy with which they were bestowed. I remember the 
case of a German gentleman who fell from comparative 
affluence to positive poverty, and who, most unhappily, 
ultimately died by his own hands. It so happened that 
this foreigner had some knowledge of Lord Macaulay, 
and asked for some assistance. Instead of receiving the 
eleemosynary guinea, as might have been expected, he 
was instantly presented with thirty pounds. And this 
unfortunate gentleman assured me that had not Mr. 
Macaulay, just about this time, lost his lucrative office 
of Post Master General, he might confidently have 
counted upon a still larger measure of support. At the 
time of his funeral I met with one who had known him, 
who told me that by a comparison of dates, almost the last 
lines which he had dictated before his death related to 
deeds of beneficence and generosity. We are not permitted 
to dogmatize respecting the state of a mans heart, but 
good deeds have their own unmistakable language, and we 
know that acts of love and self-denial are not to be with¬ 
out a final recognition and reward. 

The great Abbey shields his remains within its tender and 
solemn gloom. Human praise or blame are nothing more 
to him than the cold airs on the fitful music that wander 
over his grave. Let us hope that with all his wisdom, 
and eloquence, and learning, he in common with multi¬ 
tudes ignorant, of slow mind and of stammering speech. 


362 THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 

had learned to anchor aright his faith and hope fast by 
the cross of Christ. I do not remember any scene so sad, 
so solemn, so impressive as that of his funeral; evidences 
of respect so universal, demonstrations of grief so mani¬ 
festly sincere. Although it was not a public funeral 
sanctioned and ordered by the State, yet to this it ap¬ 
proximated about as nearly as could be. For the Speaker 
of the House of Lords, the Lord Chancellor Campbell, 
soon and suddenly to be called away, were there, and the 
Speaker of the House of Commons, and a great assem¬ 
blage of the highest in intellect and rank which London, 
on that sad day, contained. As the procession slowly 
crept up the nave with a motion that seemed motionless, 
the music swept through the sacred pile, and at times the 
wail seemed almost to take an articulate human utterance. 
Then came the solemn and tearful eloquence of prayer, and 
the reading of that awful and blessed page in which the 
Apostle vindicates our nature’s claim to immortality, and 
proclaims Heaven’s own announcement of the Resurrec¬ 
tion of the dead. And once more those strains broke 
forth, in which by a mighty master’s hand the deepest and 
tenderest thoughts, the high consolation to those who 
live under their bereavement and sorrow, the high protest 
of those who die against the perishableness of earthly 
things. So fitly was he gathered to the Minster’s kindred 
dust, among the nobles of the land to whose rank his own 
genius and labour had raised him, among our intellectual 
princes in whose noble company he bears no mean place, 
among eloquent and patriotic statesmen none of whom 
loved his country with a deeper, purer, and more enthusi¬ 
astic love. 

It may, indeed, be argued that, though few have had 
so brilliant a career as his, yet there are those who have 


RESULTS OF HIS CAREER. 


363 


had a greater, that he was not one of those who have 
stamped their character upon our national history or 
stirred the profoundest feelings of the soul or the subtlest 
reaches of the intellect, that he was not one of those who 
have been content to teach truth in neglect and silence, 
leaving a legacy of lasting good to the world, and receiv¬ 
ing for themselves the doom of hatred or obscurity or 
death. If his services to his country had been brilliant, 
they had been rewarded after a more brilliant fashion than 
ever yet had been conceded to a literary man. Or even 
compare the career of the illustrious son with that of his 
illustrious father. It was not the son’s great lot to be a 
sufferer for mercy’s and righteousness’ sake, to be so active 
an agent in a beneficent movement which has changed 
the current of our history, to be one of those who will 
hereafter be found to have sensibly lessened the sum of 
the world’s misery and degradation. That there would 
be abundant truth in such reflections is, I think, suffici¬ 
ently clear. But it is a line of speculation on which it 
is by no means necessary to enter. It seems to me an 
ungenerous and invidious office, however right it may be 
to bear in mind greater claims, to dwell on such dis¬ 
tinctions as these, or to seek by any means to detract 
from the greatness of a great man. Lord Macaulay has 
certainly conferred upon his countrymen some of the 
greatest benefits that man can confer on man. He has 
stirred their minds with his eloquent and glowing lan¬ 
guage, he has informed and enlightened their patriotism, 
he has shed a flood of brilliant light over the most obscure 
and perplexed portion of our annals, he has defended and 
illustrated the greatness and beneficence of our English 
land and law, he has cheered the hours of sickness and 
languor with the refreshing elixir of elevating knowledge 


364 


THE PUBLIC LIFE OF LORD MACAULAY. 


and innocent delight. The man who has done all this 
has not lived in vain; a man who has done all this has 
deserved well of his country and his people. His high 
guerdon will be that his name and memory will be 
cherished wherever the English tongue is spoken and the 
English race bears sway. We now turn away from this 
commemoration of his genius and glory; and we cannot 
more meetly conclude than in the words of a poet of 
our own, words that befit the great chief in letters as well 
as the great chief in arms :— 

But speak no more of his renown, 

Lay your earthly fancies down, 

And in the vast Cathedral leave him— 

God accept him, Christ receive him ! 


THE END. 


C 


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